These bonds we keep
by PakiNoor
Summary: Written for The General Electric's The Last Guardian Challenge. Because he was her Aniki, and she was his Imuto. And nothing, no demon, no shinobi, no mission, no immortal could ever change that. "Katana," he panted "I WILL protect you."
1. Chapter 1

**These bonds we keep**

Written for **The General Electric**'s **The Last Guardian **challenge.

Why do I have to write a disclaimer? If I owned Naruto, would I squeal every time I read Kishimoto Sama's name? No. I didn't think so…

Chapter 1: A promise made

"Naruto...finish it." The old man was on his knees, doubled over with pain and effort, but his eyes, boring into the eight year old's deep blue, were as sharp as ever. The boy could sense his father's chakra growing stronger as the stirring Hokage came to, his head in his mother's lap. Outside the ANBU's muttering had ceased, and though he could not see them, he knew that Itachi ni and Kakashi ni were also there, witnesses to this event. And above him, suddenly quiet and observant, was the Kyubi . not for the first time, he wished someone could take this burden from him. Why, why, why did it have to be him?

"Naruto, choose now. Choose! It has to be you're choice, your's alone. Hurry! I am running out of time!"

Ashamed, the boy closed his eyes. He could not take this burden, he was too young, too full of doubt, too weak...

He opened his mouth to say no...and then his eyes snapped open as a tiny hand gripped his own. As he looked down, he felt everyone's eyes go to the tiny bundle, and he heard his mother gasp, as the infant opened it's eyes for the first time.

Blue clashed with startled blue as Namikaze Naruto met his sister's gaze. She was too young to know him, to even begin to recognize him, but he could've sworn he saw something in her sleepy, remarkably focused gaze before her eyes shifted to the red mass above them. Swallowing, he looked up at the silent demon, then back to her.

My that demon above him. The strongest of the nine. The most deadly of the bijus. Her. Against that thing. And suddenly his doubt, his hesitation faded. The sense of responsibility, the sense of purpose...

So this was what Itachi ni had meant...

"Naruto, I-"

"Yes."

"..Naruto?"

He looked up, stronger now.

"Yes Oji san."

The old man blinked.

"And you've chosen-"

"Me" His mother was the only one who didn't gasp at his choice. He could practically feel her pride in him, hers, Kakashi's, Itachi's... but his eyes were focused on those of the silent demon above as he spoke. Was that...respect he saw? A glimpse, right after shock.

"She's mine, My sister, MY responsibility. Mine and mine alone."

He looked back at the old man, then at the bundle on the ground, and smiled when he saw she was already asleep.

"Little one, I will protect you."

For one moment the Sandaime wavered, then he smiled as he brought his hands together for the final seal. And when the Shinigami howled and the Kyubi began to twist and writhe, it was Sarutobi's voice that Naruto heard.

"Well done my boy." and fainter still: "You'll be a greater hero than that father of your's."

...

Uzumaki Naruto blinked as the memory cleared away, and his lips twisted into a grim smile. "A hero eh, Saru-jiji?" Tonight, he was to join the man who had sought for control of Konoha since it's birth. Not for the first time, the man asked himself, why me?

And as he knew it would, an eight year old voice replied:

_**because...**_ and his eyes clashed again with unwavering blue. A laughed "Aniki!" rang in his ears. _**Because...**_ persisted the voice..._**just because...**_

His lips twisted into a smile as the young man stretched…

"Imuto… I will protect you."

His eyes grew harder as he thought of the task ahead.

_Come what may, my little Katana. I __**will **__protect you… I swear it._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer:… Dude really? Fine… PakiNoor owns _**Nothing NADA Nil.**_

The Naruto world belongs to Kishimoto Sama and the story is for **The** **Last Guardian **challenge, which belongs to **The General Electric**.

I do however own my OCs, including Katana. About the name, I'm really tired of "Naruko" and "Naruka", so I decided to give it a twist of my own.

….

Chapter two: His sister's keeper

…

_Eleven years ago_

Blue eyes screwed in concentration as the chubby child lifted brought itself to it's knees. Pale pink lips parted as the infant placed its palms on the floor and tried to stand. Blue orbs widened in surprise as the baby found itself suddenly upright, standing on its own with no support.

"Good job Imuto…now lets not over do it eh?"

The baby blinked once in surprise then looking up, smiled, tried to run to her brother and… landed on her bottom once again. Naruto winced. _Shit _he cursed as the baby's shock gave way to confusion, hurt and the inevitable tears. _Shit. _Ka-chan was resting after a mission and he did not want to wake her. Not only because he didn't want to disturb her rest, but because Tou-san had promised bodily harm if the lady of the house woke before he, her wonderful husband deemed it right. Which was why his former students and a certain clan heir had taken it upon themselves to guard their Otuto from as much harm as possible by guarding the (beloved wonderful, thoughslightlycrankywhenwoken) Kushina hime while she slept. Which meant that they were silently bearing witness to him as he proved what a wonderful guardian he was , yet again.

"Talking to yourself again Otuto?"

Naruto winced. Rin was the nicest of his 'siblings' but as he made his way to his infant sister, he really wished she hadn't chosen that moment to speak up.

"Don't, Rin-nee, I'll get her."

"I don't think she'd like that." He could've groaned. Itachi-nee was _enjoying _this, the bastard. Finally pulling out of his slouch, he turned to the front porch where (_you gotta be shitting me_) team Minato and the Uchiha heir were standing, ANBU masks at their hips, smirks plastered to their faces. He growled.

"What? You think she'll prefer the dirt?"

Obito nee grinned, if possible, even wider.

"I think she'd prefer to take those last few steps before you pick her, foolish cousin."

Naruto blinked, the retort dying on his lips, before he spun around to see the baby on it's bottom no more than two feet away. _Wait, what? I could've sworn she was beside the pond. That's over three feet away! How?_

His confusion cleared as the baby once more pushed herself to her feet then took a tiny step forward. Naruto blinked and made to go to her, but something in that determined, scrunched up little face made him stop. Another step, then another, a third, then a fourth, before the baby plopped to the ground once more. But this time, instead of the shock and tears, he could've sworn he saw something close to annoyance wash over her features as she scrunched up her face, brought herself to her hands and knees, looked up at her brother, then looked down and pushed herself upright once more.

_Well, shit_. Naruto heard quiet chuckling behind him, but honestly, he didn't care. A huge grin swept over his face as he realized that all that effort, that struggle was _for him . _She was walking _to him_ . Behind him, his father's murmured "What's going on?" and his mother's "Ssh!" alerted him to their presence. If Otou-san was here, it meant that the annual clan meeting was over and that meant Fugaku Ji and Mikoto-Baa (not to mention the other clan heads) were there too. But that didn't seem to matter to either one of the Namikaze siblings. Squatting down, he raised his arms a little, enough to say "_hey, I'm here_" without wounding her pride.

Itachi smirked at the display and the single "_Aww-_**Thwak**-Hey!" from where Obito stood between Rin and Kakashi . Little Katana was her brother in miniature, a little red haired Naruto. And he had known she wouldn't back down from showing off to her "Anini". Glancing at his the baby in his mother's arms, he smiled again. Sasuke had done the same for him after all.

The baby girl was oblivious to her audience, it seemed. She was tiring, but was determined to reach her "Anini". Another step, then another, a third, then a fourth, then as if afraid of falling another time, a hurried fifth and sixth before teetering to a stop mere inches away from his hands. Confused, she looked at his hands, then at him, before raising her arms slightly. Did he want to pick her up now? She wouldn't like it, she wanted to try some more…But he was sitting there, so…

"Ani. Anineee…!"

Naruto chuckled.

"It's ok, Imuto, come on, just a little more."

She was too young to understand his words, but the soft smile that had settled on his lips was enough for the little baby apparently, as she looked down, took one step, then another, then with a final burst of energy, gave a little jump of sorts before landing against his chest, her Aniki's arms locking around her. Obito gave a whoop of approval as the others applauded and Naruto grinned with pride as he hugged his Imuto momentarily, before lifting her up and turning to the crowd on the porch. His mother was beaming and talking animatedly with the other women and as he carried the giggling baby over, he heard their conversation.

"…is obvious she'd take after you all Kushina-hime'. Coming from a family of gifted shinobi, it's no wonder she's so talented!"

"…determined, so focused!"

"…must be so proud Hokage Sama!"

"We are, Haruno Sama. Proud…and grateful. Very much so." His father's quiet voice was calm and level as always, but Naruto could sense the barely concealed pride and happiness. A few more minutes were spent at the porch before Kushina practically shoved them all towards the dining room. Not physically of course, the Hokage's wife was above that, but with a few well placed words and phrases, she easily maneuvered her guests towards the dining halls under the servants care. Naruto and Minato stayed where they were. After all, they knew the beauty's intentions. And they were proven right, when, after shutting the door on a surprised Hiashi's face, she spun around and practically leapt towards her children.

"Oh my beautiful, clever girl! Well done darling! Isn't she just clever Tou-san? Isn't she clever Aniki? Yes she is, yes she – Naruto!" Kushina laughed "Let go!"

"I'm not holding her Kaa-chan!" the boy yelped "It's her! She won't let go!"

"Of course she will! She loves her mommy! Come now my little- Minato! What's so funny?"

Mother and son turned to their chuckling Hokage. The oldest Namikaze continued to grin as he walked over to his family, calmly lifted a finger for silence, then pointed at the center of attention.

"I don't-oh!"

Kushina stilled as a soft snore brought their attention to the youngest Namikaze. Naruto watched his previously irritated mother melt and break into smiles at the discovery that their little princess was fast asleep, oblivious to the fact that her brother had almost lost both his arms to their frantic mother.

"Oh well, tuck her in then Naruto kun! But help her change first ok? I'll take care of the guests then."

And with a kiss to each of her men and a tiny one to her daughter, the queen of the house swept in the door, leaving her men sighing in relief.

"Women…" Naruto murmured, in awe of the Kamis who had created this weapon of mass destruction and it's … soft, sweet smelling, gentle disguise. His father laughed.

"Wait till you're older. This is nothing." Naruto shivered and scowled at his chuckling father before retorting:

"Yeah? What about Katana? She's gonna be a handful too."

Both father and son stilled as the full implication of those words sunk in. Katana, older, more demanding, more beautiful…Katana, wanting to be a shinobi… Katana, _on her first date_…

Both men groaned. It was hard enough _now_, taking care of their women, how would they manage then? Minato sighed,

"Kakashi, Itachi, Obito…" and as an after thought "…Shisui."

"Hai, Hokage Sama." Four of Konoha's finest ANBU operatives appeared from their hiding spot somewhere in the branches above, and for the first time in his life, Naruto silently blessed the cranky elders for insisting on the constant presence of an ANBU surveillance team. With these three around, he and Otou-san might, just might be able to keep the already headstrong princess safe for a little longer.

"Remember boys," the Hokage murmured "_constant_ vigilance."

"Don't worry Minato," came Hiashi's voice from the door and as he turned to the approaching clan heads, Naruto barely suppressed a moan of relief. These clan heads could argue all day, every day on the tiniest of matters, but there were a few things they all agreed on:

Konoha was the finest of the ninja villages

The council of elders really had to go

Namikaze Kushina was a force to be reckoned with, and her teacakes could be (and frequently were) used as poisonous projectiles, and

Namikaze Katana _must _be protected. No matter what the cost.

Fugaku picked up where Hiashi had left off

"Nothing will harm our little Hime."

And while he could not bring himself to fully trust the Uchiha's leader, he smiled back his thanks, because he knew that the clan heads would never let anything harm his Imuto…be it a poisoned kunai, or a stupid boyfriend. She was just too important, too dear to them all. Even the council of elders (with the exception of Danzo of course) would smile at her antics. She was _special_. And not just because of the secret she had, sealed away inside. Speaking of which…

"Itachi-ni, I don't think she's gonna let go that easily. Help me will ya?"

The boy's eyes narrowed, but he and Shisui followed none the less as the Namikaze heir bowed to the clan heads and stepped in the door.

"Brat."

"…Shisui-ni."

"Are you gonna explain why we're helping you put the munchkin to bed?"

Naruto grinned and glanced over his shoulder.

"Aww, Shisui-ni, don't you wanna spend some time with your _favourite _lil' cousin?"

"Of course. I just don't see why her brother has to be there too."

Naruto scowled as he reached for the handle. "You're mean, nii-san."

Shisui grinned as they stepped in the nursery. "And you're not good at being subtle."

Naruto placed his sister in the crib before turning around to scowl at his 'cousin'.

Shisui shook his head. "Now now, kid. Have I and Itachi taught you nothing? And I'm not talking about your lack of manners here."

Itachi nodded. "A ninja, no matter how skilled, will be at risk even if-"

"-his blade is sharp if his mind is dull." Naruto rolled his eyes. "What was I supposed to say? 'Hey, lets go check out the fox now'?"

"Point," Shisui nodded, "but they're not gonna fall for any excuse you make. The entire clan council knows the truth, and any doubt left in the villagers' minds was erased when the elders assigned four Sharingan users to her personal guard."

"…Can we please just…?"

Itachi looked at him once more then nodded, and Naruto felt relief as the Uchihas' eyes bled red, before they locked with his own blue, drew him in, then moved on to the red head lying in the crib.

…

…

…

"_**come to taunt me kit?"**_

**Present Day**

Naruto winced. The villagers had treated him like a hero for choosing to be his sister's guardian. The story of how the Hokage's eight year old son had sworn to protect his infant sister, the Kiyubi jinchuriki, while his father lay unconscious after his own victory against Uchiha Madara was a legend and the boy had been given much love and respect. So much, that Naruto was sure that if his "siblings" and "cousins" weren't there to keep him in check, he'd have been quite the pain in the ass.

But where Katana was concerned…

For the villagers, she was at worst the Kiyubi itself, and at best a container, a tool for the village to use where the Kage saw fit. The fact that afore mentioned Kage and his wife and revered son, (not to mention the clan heads and remaining San-nin) would have torn to shreds any who dared hint this was not lost on the villagers, but it could not stop the whispers…the stories…the gossip… Forever, he had been the hero, while she was at best, "Naruto Sama's sister" and at worst "Brat." Chunin at ten, Jonin at twelve, ANBU at thirteen. Yes, he had been their hero, a future Hokage, another example of their best, their finest.

Until that night.

"_They're not..They're NOT…KAA-chan…TOU-SAN!"_

_In the shadows, Naruto closed his eyes as the boy screamed in terror. Itachi was still in the ward, recuperating from a "training accident", for which he was glad. Sasuke, he could handle, and Sakura and Katana too. But Itachi was one he could not face. Not yet._

"_Sasu-sasuke don't. C'mon. We cant do anything. We have to get somebody!"_

_He smiled. Ah, little Sakura, always the logical one. With her chakra control and keen intellect, she was bound to turn out well. He had wanted to see how she would do as a shinobi, in fact he had submitted his name as Jonin instructor, requesting permission to train the three of them. They were bound to go so far…Oh well._

"_How could – how could any one __**do**__ this? Sasu- sasu- ke. Come on. Let's go get some one. We need to tell Aniki."_

_Naruto winced. Katana. This would be hard._

"_Shut up!" Sasuke was near hysterical now. "Just SHUT. UP."_

_Naruto frowned as he felt the approaching chakra signals. They were still a mile away but, Kakashi and Rin would've heard the children's screams by now. He needed them here, Obito was still alive… but there was something he needed to do first. _

_With a sigh he stepped out of the shadows, and three, no, four children looked up. Despite their fear, hope leapt in their eyes and mentally Naruto scoffed at their innocence. Oh they would go far, but for now they were but children. Children, not shinobi…with innocence they needed to be rid off. Right. Now._

"_Get up Sasuke, is that any way for an Uchiha to behave?"_

_The boy flinched at his tone, and the hope in his eyes dimmed somewhat. Naruto's eyes gleamed. Good._

"_Ani-ki" Katana hiccupped "Mikoto baa…Fugaku jiji…they're- they're-"_

_Naruto cocked his head to one side and turned his eyes to the corpses. "Dead?" he finished. "Well whaddya know… they ARE dead. Good eye squirt!" The children grew a little closer at his feral grin, and he grinned all the more, baring his teeth as he stepped forward._

"_Naruto ni… are you alright?" Hinata's question startled him a little. Was he ok? By now they had seen the blood on his uniform, dripping from his katana. They had seen the wild look in his eyes, his obvious indifference to the corpses lying around. They were unarmed, he was in full battle gear… and she was asking if __**he**__ was ok? Then again, Hinata always had been…weirdly… attached…to him. Even more so then Katana._

"_Oh Hina-chan" he laughed at her blush, and the children's' drooping spirits sank deeper. "I'm just fine…"_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: PakiNoor is sick and tired of repeating the same sentence over and over again, and shes beginning to wonder if there's a limit to the number of ways she can say it: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Sama, The Last Guardian Challenge is the brain child of The General Electric, Katana, the other OCs and this Fan Fic belong to me. Kapeesh?**_

Chapter Three: Dream out Loud

_Six years ago _

_Naruto groaned. Kaa chan was going to KILL him. After she brought him back from the dead ofcourse… there was no way he was surviving this new torture. _

_It had started out simply enough. Kaa chan, Mikoto baa chan, and Yuuki san had been drafted as body guards for Midori San for a diplomatic mission to the land of Samurais. It was not often that the clan heads wives got a mission at all, let alone together, and the four friends had readily agreed. But since their husbands were busy and all four loathed the idea of leaving their children with nannies, the four women had turned to their "dear, reliable Naruto Kun" to take up the position of baby sitter. The fact that said chunnin had only just returned from his first A class mission, and was tired was not lost on any one, least of all his mother, but of course, it __**was**__ only till the clan heads got off for the day. After all, a few hours of babysitting duty (with pay his father had twinkled at his disbelieving face- as if he need bribes to take care of his Imuto- but hey what the heck) couldn't possibly be that hard…right? Right?_

_Haha, yeah…right… _

_No sooner had he been informed of his new mission and been ceremoniously kicked out of his grinning father's office than Naruto had scanned Konoha for his sister's chakra. Not surprisingly, He located her somewhere near the academy, heading towards the park, with Sasuke and the Hyuga heiress in tow. Today it seemed that young Sakura had also been dragged along. _

_Much admired older brother he may be, but disturbing the kids during one of their games was not something that would be tolerated by the chibi ninjas. Sighing, he had decided to make it as fun as possible for the kids, and had sent of Gamakichi with a warning. _

_And thats where it all went wrong...  
_

_He had thought it was so cute when his Imuto had taken her first steps a little over four years back. When Sasuke started soon after, he and his dad's students had grinned and teased Itachi about his otuto getting jealous of little Katana getting all the attention till he tried for himself. It had been so much fun watching the Uchiha toddler trying to out do the chibi Namikaze as she raced all around the Namikaze compound, with him always a few steps behind. _

_The funniest thing was that little Katana didn't realize that her "Shashoo-tay" was trying to compete with her. So she didn't really appreciate having to stop every time he got left behind. Or when he complained loudly -__**on purpose!-**__ And brought their anikis to their hiding place every he know that they were supposed to hide from Aniki? Much as he enjoyed humoring his Imuto, he had always caught her in time for lunch. Still, Naruto had to admit as he squinted at the mid day sun, this time they had either hidden themselves so far away that he couldn't hear Sasuke, or Katana had hidden some where alone, so as to escape being caught. Exasperated, the 14 year old sent a little chakra to his ears. Years of training with both the Inuzuka and Uchiha heirs had made this as easy as breathing. Just a little patience, and he would find them._

…

…

_Sure enough, pretty soon he heard a tell tale sniffle that brought him face to face with the younger Uchiha. To his relief, Midori San's pinkette daughter and the Hyuga heiress were sitting right next to him. But where was… _

"_Sasuke, where's Katana?" _

_The children were startled out of their mumbling, and the pinkette Haruno ceased trying to comfort her dark haired friends in order to turn and give him a run down of the situation._

_It seemed his Imuto had abandoned her friends in order to hide alone. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Fun and games were one thin, but one did not let their friends get hurt. One of the first things he and the older nin had taught the younger four was the most sacred of the rules the Konoha nin lived by: one who abandoned the mission was trash, but those who abandoned their friends were worse than trash. Such nin were not among those honored as heroes by the people of Konoha, no matter how skilled they may be. Perhaps his Imuto needed to be reminded of this time honored lesson. But for now, he had three very small, very tired children to deal with. With a sigh, Naruto settled down next to the grubby children, and held out his arms._

"_Sasuke kun," he murmured, "Come on, lets go find my little baka of an Imuto."_

_At the mention of Katana's name, the three children lowered their heads and little Sakura fairly _**shook **_. Naruto frowned. Whatever Katana had said to her three friends, it must have been bad. Naruto knew that for all of her sweetness, Katana had a surprisingly sharp tongue for a six year old, and had been known on several occasions to shock even the older nins with her angry retorts. But though Sasuke had been on the receiving end of these jibes since both had been able to string coherent sentences together, Katana had never directed any of her barbs towards Sakura or Hinata, though Naruto had known her to get that Yamanaka brat into a kitten fight often enough (as Shisui put it)._

"_Sasu- hey!"_

_Naruto bit back a curse as the three children tackled him to the ground. Blinking, he looked up at the now grinning trio of youngsters. Little Sakura was sitting on his stomach, a surprisingly determined look on her otherwise kawai face. The Hyuga heiress seemed shocked at her own boldness, but kept her arms wrapped around his legs, her knees digging into his shins, her feet locked around his own. And Sasuke…_

_Naruto scowled . The little brat had the audacity to __**smirk**__ at him, his hands wrapped around a __**where the hell had that brat gotten a kunai from?**_

"_Hah! Aniki! We got you! We got you!"_

_Naruto looked up at the branches over head where a giggling Katana was being held in place by a very much amused Gamakichi. The little frog summon grinned and sweat dropped when his summoner fixed him with a Kushina worthy death look, but shrugged it off before bothering to explain._

"_It was her idea. Munchkin's got a good head on her shoulders."_

_Naruto scowled before disappearing in a poof and reappearing next to his Imuto in a matter of seconds._

"_Hey! No fair Baka ni san!"_

_If he scowled any more, it was sure to do some permanent damage, but damn, he remembered how they'd oohed and aahed over every new jutsu he performed a less than a year back. Back when he was Naruto Ni san or just Ni san and "Can I get you anything Ni san?" when he returned from a mission. And now?_

_Now he got poked in the forehead by a suddenly irritant little junchiriki , who in turn was being held back by an orange frog who was just too amused for Naruto's liking._

"_Serves you right! You should spend more time with us! We want to become strong ninja too! And we have to train with __**someone **__don't we?"_

_Naruto blinked. And here he'd put this off as some elaborate torture session planned by Itachi and Obito. But no, Katana was completely serious as she proceeded to lecture her Ni san as a bunch of munchkin ninjas nodded at her every word from the ground below._

_A game ? How dare he! They were academy students, This wasn't a __**game **__, it was a training exercise, with simple rules: Number one, run away from Aniki and never, _**ever**_ let Kaka ni or Ita-ni catch her. Or Obito ni or Shishu ni. Rin ni was ok, because she smelt nice and knew just how to hold her when she was tired. (Not that she'd ever mention this to her Aniki, but sometimes she liked Rin ni better. But only sometimes. And Rin ni had promised not to tell Aniki about it. Ever.) But when she was training, not even Rin ni was allowed near her. No this was her special training, that she did with her Aniki. Kaa chan had told her that sometimes shinobi had to run away from bad shinobi who might cut them if they got too near. And if you got cut, there would be blood. Not that Katana was scared of blood, no way! She wasn't like that Ino pig that kept squealing if her hair got messed up or if Shino's bugs got near- and they were such cool bugs too! Really smart!- Its just that Oba chan said that we needed blood inside of us, not outside where it'd make a mess and be wasted, and Katana knew that shinobis were meant to save things, not waste them. _

_But Naruto ni was a chunnin , and even though she knew he would never hurt her, she knew that he knew a lot so if she wanted to stay "safe", she had to keep away from him, especially because she got tired a lot faster than he did._

_Which brought them to rule number two: when needed, hide, and stay hidden. Itachi ni had helped her learn this when she explained to her Tou san's students and the Uchihas exactly __**why**__ she needed to drive her Aniki half crazy with worry every time she tried to play shinobi. Not like the Rin nee or Obito nee had been of much help._

_Obito ni had fallen over laughing about how she was going to beat Kushina's records yet, how Naruto was a dead man and how Jiraiya Sama had better watch out. Rin Nee had grinned and ruffled her hair and said something silly about how Katana should just be Katana for a little while longer. It had been Itachi ni who had taught her to look for the least obvious of places to hide, and Kakashi ni had taught her to take in her surroundings and analyze them as quickly as possible. And rule three: When needed, cheat. Because not everyone would play fair._

_Little Katana may only be four (and a __**half**__ as she had pointed out to the visiting and amused Tsuchikage, much to the chagrin of her nanny), but she was well aware of the responsibilities of shinobi, and of what was expected of her, if she chose to follow that path. As were her closest friends, two who were clan heirs and one who was, like her, the younger sibling of a clan heir. Clan heirs who were already legendary in their own rights. Itachi was already ANBU, and everyone knew that Naruto had only chosen to remain Chunnin , with less missions, to stay near Katana, a fact that had frustrated the little Namikaze greatly. And she made sure to let her Aniki know of it, now that she had finally gotten his attention._

_Naruto twitched as his Imuto let loose her frustrations for all of Konoha to hear. A sniggering Gamakichi had been dismissed halfway through her ramblings and Naruto had taken it upon himself to treat the younger children to some food (Ramen and Dango! The other youngsters had chorused to a sighing Naruto...Kaa-chan was going to __**kill**__ him)._

"_Imuto, I __**like **__ taking care of you. Its my job remember? I'm your Aniki."_

"_Itachi ni doesn't do it for Sasuke!"_

_The Uchiha in question stopped his sniggering, scrunching his face as he considered whether to take that as a good thing or a sign of negligence from his own Aniki. Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the younger Uchiha's conundrum._

"_That's because he knows I'm here to take over for him. He's busy, he is ANBU after all."_

_But little Kushina wasn't ready to give up yet. She swatted away her brother's helping hands in order to climb on to her stool herself._

"_You should be too! You could beat him any day!"_

_Sakura followed her friends example, and after a second, Hinata also refused to take his help, albeit more politely than the other two. Sasuke, who had been lifted on to a stool before the rest, looked mortified as the girls clambered on themselves, and his mood grew worse with Katana's heartfelt retort._

"_Oi!"_

_Katana spared her best friend a scathing look before relenting._

"_Well, it would be a good fight…if Aniki bothered to train!"_

_And once again, they returned to their previous argument. This time how ever, little Sakura joined in._

"_Ano, Katana chan, people are looking."_

_Sure enough, the people at the stall had increased in a matter of seconds, the large crowd attracted no doubt by the sight of one of their finest nin being lectured by a red headed munchkin. Naruto could've kissed the old man as he clapped his hands and told the crowd to either order or leave, as the grumbling crowd dispersed with grins on their faces. Naruto swore under his breath as he saw a few Jounin amomg the leaving crowd. Great, now dad would never let him live this down. Katana turned back from ordering her usual to fix her Aniki with another frown. Before she could continue however, Hinata and Sasuke decided to intervne. _

_As one clamped his hand over a furious Katana's mouth, the other turned to the Namikaze heir._

"_A-ano, Naruto ni, y-you trust us don't you?"_

_Naruto paused mid order to stare at the little Hyuga._

"… _Hinata chan?" Even Katana and Sakura looked surprised. The little heiress blushed at the attention, but hurried on with her speech._

"_You know w-we would always stick with Katana chan, no matter what. You know we're going to academy to learn jutsu in a few months. And you know we'll all take care of each other no matter what. … right?"_

_Naruto could only nod at the heiress._

"_Then can't you trust us? To take care of each other? And every one knows you're strong and that you'll take care of them. Don't you trust us to do the same?" The little Hyuga paused for breath, and Sasuke took over:_

"_How are we gonna get stronger if you don't let us? This is our village too you know."_

_Well damn. Naruto gaped at the four children staring back at him. He hadn't seen that coming. Sakura shrugged._

"_Besides, we'll need a sensei when we graduate. And you need to be a Jounin for that."_

_Naruto blinked. _

"…_You want me to be your sensei?"_

"_Getting a little ahead of ourselves aren't we?"_

_The children's eyes widened at the new arrivals._

"_Otou san!"_

"_Otou San!"_

"_Konichiwa, Tou san."_

"_Hokage sama! Fugaku sama! Hiashi dono!" The children's enthusiastic welcome made the clan heads grin._

"_My my," commented the Hyuga head as he settled down next to his heir, "If this is the kind of greeting one receives from you all, I'm glad you took out most of your enthusiasm on Naruto kun."_

_Naruto forced out a chuckle. It would not do to scowl at a clan head. _

"_Indeed," murmered Fugaku, clearly more amused than he let on. Diverting from the topic only long enough to place an order, he took his place next to his younger son, and the boy looked both surprised and pleased as his father ruffled his hair. "That was an impressive attack children. A well thought out plan indeed. I regret having missed it."_

_Minato grinned at his son as he lifted his giggling daughter onto his lap. "Thankfully, Gamakichi's description was very vivid. I hope you didn't hurt yourselves in the process children."_

_Sakura face lit up._

"_Nope. Baka-ni wasn't expecting it at all, so it was really easy."_

_Naruto groaned out loud as the stalls occupants laughed at the heiresses comment._

"_This is the thanks I get for taking care of you three."_

"_Well then you shouldn't! You should spend more time training so you can get promoted. Or do you want everyone to know you got beaten up by a bunch of little kids?"_

_For the third time that day, Sasuke's face scrunched up as Naruto turned to his Imuto. _

_Being called "little" was something she detested. The fact that she had risked her friends disapproval and had swallowed her pride enough to refer to them as such, just to get her Aniki's attention was not lost on the older occupants either. She was really concerned about him. _

_Naruto felt a warm glow inside. He would love to coach the four of them, they had unlimited potential, but it was not for him to decide, and he and the clan heads glanced at the Hokage. With a soft smile that went unnoticed by his daughter, Minato nodded to his first born, and Naruto grinned._

"_Ok wannabes!"_

_The children blinked, though Sasuke looked fairly disgusted at being referred to in such a manner. Naruto gave the children his trade mark grin._

"_You want me to trust you guys to take care of yourself? To let you get stronger and to maybe someday teach you my justus? You want me to become your sensei?"_

_Non plussed, the four nodded, Hinata following a little later than the others. Naruto smirked._

"_Make me."_

_The children were outraged. All that work for nothing? But they quieted as Naruto held up a finger._

"_Make me trust you. Show me you're good enough to become shinobi, to be allowed on the same team. Show Hokage sama you deserve to not be separated. Show your clans that you are worthy of representing them in the field. Make us __**want **__to listen to you. Show me you can take care of yourselves. Make me want to trust you."_

_The children nodded, suddenly very serious and the clan heads smiled at each other. He had gotten them focused with a few simple words. The boy was going to make an excellent Hokage someday._

_Sasuke piped up._

"_We can still beat you up though right?"_

…

"_Is that a yes?" Hinata ventured hesitantly._

_Thud_

"_Naruto kun, head off the table please." Ayame grinned at the scowling blond as the four children looked from him to the chortling older Ninjas before sharing exasperated looks._

_**Grown ups were so weird.**_

_Present day_

Minato frowned. Katana had barely blinked as her mother put down a bowl of her favorite dish in front of her. He remembered a time when she had had to be physically restrained from wolfing down the bowls contents in one go. But that reminded him of the laughing blond who had done the restraining, and he flinched forcing himself to return his attention to his hime. His daughter had been a ball of sunshine , lighting everything in her path. How she had changed. But as the Hokage looked around at the other kneeling occupants, he forced himself to accept : they all had.

Not for the first time, the Hokage thought of how differently things would've been if he hadn't been with Itachi that night. If the children hadn't found the Namikaze mansion empty. If they hadn't gone home with Sasuke. If-

Minato shook his head. What was done was done. It would not help to revisit buried memories. It had taken four years for the village to put it behind them. Four years to reform their police forces, to fill the places left empty in their Shinobi ranks. Time healed all wounds. But it would take more than time to bring back the life in these children's eyes. Four years of knowing that above all, these four needed their attention more than any other. And yet he and Hiyashi, Kushina and Yuki and Kakashi and Rin had turned a blind eye. The village needed their Hokage and clan heads. And while it wrenched his heart in two to let them wither away, he had been forced to allow it to happen. And the result was before him. But he could change that now. Konoha was back on her feet, her citizens faith was restored and he could finally pay attention to the new heirs of the will of the fire. Starting now.

"Katana, I met with Iruka senei today."

The twelve year old looked up from her meal. As did the dark haired heiress next to her. The silence stretched till the younger Namikaze responded.

"Oh?"

"He was, concerned… about your performance. All of you as a matter of fact."

Something close to surprise lit up the younger Namikaze's eyes but it was gone before her father could confirm it. Further down the table, Sasuke and Sakura looked away from their meals to their host from either side of Itachi. The young clan head had understood his leader's plan from the start, and continued with his meal. Opposite him, the much older Hyuga clan head, turned to wards his old friend, though he too refrained from commenting. Minato sighed inwardly. _Thanks for the help you two_.

"…Yes."

Minato took another bite before he readdressed the agitated children.

"The Genin exams are coming up. He was concerned because he felt your performance was not up to par with the standards set by the board. Katana, he said that you were falling behind in you're academics, and though you have stamina, you are still lacking control over even the most basic jutsus. Hinata chan, Sakura chan, he complained that while you two were doing well academically, neither of you displayed the confidence expected of Genin hopefuls, especially those of your caliber. And Sasuke, he was worried by your lack of interest in team activities. He also said that all four of you seemed to lack control over your emotions, and that you in particular were unnecessarily violent. Needless to say, we are very surprised …and disappointed."

The children had grown more and more agitated under his stern gaze, and Kushina cringed as she saw them grow more embarrassed with each passing second. She knew this was necessary, but as she looked at each child, the mother's heart beating in her cried for these innocents, three of them motherless.

_Hurry Minato. _She willed her husband. _They can't take too much of this. Be done with it._

Minato finished his meal before he returned to the topic.

"But," he paused as the children perked up "what worried me the most, was Iruka's decision to not consider you for the genin exam at all. And after hearing his case, I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree."

That got their attention. Sasuke stilled and Sakura dropped her chopsticks with a gasp. Hinata's eyes were wide as she looked from him to her father to her friends before flushing and dropping her gaze to the bowl in front of her, mortified. But it was Katana's reaction that surprised them all.

"You can't do that."

The low, incredulous response drew even Kakashi's attention, and Itachi's brows creased at the barely there hostility.

Minato merely glanced at his offspring.

"Excuse me?"

"You can't," Katana's eyes were beginning to take on a look Minato hadn't seen in over four years, "You can't _stop _us from trying."

Us. She had thought of the four of them. Not used her influence as the Hokage's daughter to try to f through. She had thought of her friends as well. Minato felt pride surge through him and a quick look around the table proved he wasn't the only one who noticed her choice of words. Sasuke's eyes flickered to his old friend's face for the first time in years before noticing her father's eyes on him and turning away.

"Actually, I can. I can't speak for Sasuke or Hinata, but I _am _yours and Sakura's legal guardian, and if it means I can stop the two of you from embarrassing us on graduation day, I think I will. Though if Hiyashi and Itachi still want to let their wards give it a try…"

Katana tore her furious blue eyes away to the clan heads sitting opposite each other. Itachi continued to finish off his meal, while Hiyashi looked at his heiress before sighing.

"It pains me to say this, but no, I don't think Hinata has shown enough potential to be allowed any special favors from my part. Her performance at home has been equally dismall." The Hyuga heiress seemed to droop even more as her father continued."Your mother would've been ashamed."

_Harsh _Across the table, several of the occupants winced. Katana looked horrified and she turned to Itachi. Minato could see the cogs working in her head. Sasuke had done better than the three of them. Surely Itachi would-

"No. I don't think Sasuke is deserving either Hokage Sama. I have not seen any reason to change my mind."

The look on Sasuke's face would've been priceless in any situation. _Poor kids _Minato thought, _they'll thank us some day_.

"No. You're wrong!"

Katana's outburst drew all eyes to the young girl. On her feet now, she fixed her father with a glare Tsunade would've been proud of.

"Katana, _sit down_."

"We _are _ good enough to become genin. You don't have any right to stop us from taking the test. You don't know what were capable of. How could you? You've never trained with us, Never bothered with us, not now, not befo-"

Hinata's eyes shot up, wide gray went from the girl standing beside her to the black haired boy sitting in front of her who had suddenly gone very _very _tense, and a pale hand grabbed on to her friends sleeve and _tugged_. Katana had frozen, all eyes were on Sasuke. And with everyones attention focused on the youngest Uchiha, who currently resembled a block of granite, it came as a shock when a response came from the most unlikely of places.

"She's right."

Sakura's whisper sounded so loud in the suddenly quiet room. Minato was not surprised to see the girl tearing, but then she looked up, and it was the fierce look in her eyes that got his attention. Protective, loving, shy, determined. It was how Midori had looked when he had questioned her decision to marry a civilian. His old team mate had fixed him with that very stare before she had proceeded to open his eyes. Very forcefully. She had been Kushina's greatest ally during their genin years, and that look had always promised a painful after math.

How he had missed it.

"She's right," Sakura had gotten a little louder, "You never did pay any attention to us. It was always," here she took in a deep breath as they waited. Would she dare utter the name? "It was always, were too busy dear, not now dear, run along dear, stay children for a little longer dear, later dear. We waited, and waited but it was never later. You never paid attention to _us_ . To what we needed to learn. May be you're right, you were busy, and may be we could've tried harder. But all I know is," for the first time in _six years _Minato saw a glimpse of the shining emerald his heart's sister had had, and he couldn't tear his eyes away as her daughter continued "All I can think is, that this, what's happened, what's happening… its as much your fault as it is ours. May be even more."

…

…

…

The silence was deafening.

Minato watched as the girl blushed but held his gaze, albeit faltering. _Oh little blossom, you have __**no **__idea how right you are…_

"Hokage Sama."

Minato tore himself from the suddenly shy green to deep, suddenly hesitant black. Sasuke looked uncomfortable. It was the first time in a long time that the boy had spoken to the Hokage voluntarily, and from the look on his face, what ever he was going to say wasn't something he liked at all.

"Sakura and Hinata have maintained adequate results in all areas except the one you mentioned. Whatever issues they have can surely be cleared up, once they have enough experience in the field. And a competent instructor can I'm sure guide us in the…other areas."

Katana hadn't missed the way her name had been left out, her shoulders drooped only a little and something told Minato she'd been expecting worse.

"And," Sasuke seemed determined to avoid looking at Katana, "I'm sure the four of us can cover up any weaknesses that would hold us back in the exams. After all, there is still a month left."

Minato had not missed the widening of her eyes, or the sudden glances between Sakura and Hinata, but he chose to ignore his daughter and her friends in favor of the younger Uchiha.

"Actually, not a month. The finals will take place in two days." The children looked incredulous and even the can heads raised a brow. This was news.

"I decided to have them as soon as possible. After all, regrowing economy or no, Konoha still needs its task force. The quicker we get new blood in, the better forKonoha. Breathe Katana."

The girl had started to resemble a certain pepper…

"You cant-"

"I already have." When he rose and directed his guests to the adjacent sitting room, the children's last hopes seemed to disappear. Waiting only long enough for his wife to leave before him, he casually threw them a lifeline.

"I will reconsider..."

Turning to close the doors, he glanced at the shell shocked children.

"If you can make me."

He did not miss the look in those blue eyes. That spark, the glint of blue steel... He had not seen it in four long years…

He shut the door, turned around and let his face crumble.

_She looked just like…_

…

…

…

_**Somewhere in the Land of Waves**_

Kisame glanced at his partner. What was he, a baby sitter?

"Hey, small fry you gonna drop dead? If your sneezing angers my sharks, I'm not gonna drag you back to base."

The blond rubbed his nose.

"Tobi wouldn't like that."

Kisame cringed. Missing nin he may be…but the thought of a distressed Tobi trying to bring his " amazing Naruto sensei" back to life while berating "Kisame dono" for letting him "sleepy sleep with icky fishies" was not an amusing one.

"Can we go now? All this water makes me wanna go pee."

…Then again.

_Of all the geniuses who have to defect from that idiotic village… why do we get stuck with the morons? First the snake, now the brat. What happened to the dark, silent type? The kind that could be accepted as ANBU material? _

Was a quiet partner too much to ask for?

XXxXXxXX

_**And there you have it! Chapter three! Complete with a happy flash back for once. Plus I figured you guys would like to know how the munchkins had fared over the past four years. Before you kill me though:**_

_**Of course Katana isn't a bouncing orange blur like the cannon verse Naruto. Her lifes been different as the upcoming chapters will reveal.**_

_**Yes, the kids broke apart. But they will get back together of course … Does any one wanna guess how they're gonna "make" Minato change his mind? **__** I'm curious**_

_**And yeah, Minato's team mates have never been named in the cannon, so I'm gonna take advantage of that **_

_**Oh, and a big Thank you to Kyu15 for your reviews!**_

_**Sayanora!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: No, like seriously? okay! PakiNoor does not own Kishimoto Sama's AWE-wait for it-SOME creation. If she did, she WOULD save it from Disney and its lame brain new management. Walter, Rob? You are sorely missed. That being said, she would also like to point out that she does not own My Chemical Romance or any other band or Glee but that this and a few of the upcoming chapters are partly inspired by them and the latest episode of Glee club that I just saw online, so yeah. I'm hoping my idols (all of them) wont mind me incorporating that here. Lastly, The Last Guardian Challenge is the brain child of one General Electric. The plot and the OCs for this particular FanFic however, I DO own. Deal with it. **

**These Bonds We Keep**

**Chapter Four: Just Because**

Hinata couldnt wrap her mind around it. How hard was it to understand why she was explaining to a group of ANBU members that imitating a bat near the Hokage tower was a good form of exercise. And that no, she had not been aware of the recently activated traps on all buildings near the Hokage tower. Yes, she knew her own curfew was two hours ago. No, she did not want to go home just yet. Why? Because she needed to train. Because she needed the practice. Because she did. Because. Just because.

She was red in the face (though whether that was because of the blood rushing to her head or acute embarresment or because she was desperatly trying to string complete sentences together without stuttering, Kakashi could not figure out) . Regardless, he would make her talk. It had been a boring night and this was the perfect way to liven things up. Sadistic? Maybe. But he was _bored _ and he needed amusement, if only for a little longer.

If she had not been focusing on speaking clearly, she would've groaned. He was gonna make her say it. Infront of his team too!

How on earth did this happen again?

"Because I'm weak!" She shouted at him.

Rin blinked. Hinata, screaming? The kid really must be tired. She nudged the silver haired ANBU infront of her. G_ive it up_. _Let her go_.

Kakashi sighed. And hed been having fun too. Flipping himself over to mimic the girls position, he shifted his hands through the seals to deactivate the traps. He was nots urprised when the girl dropped with an "Eep!" when he completed the final seal. She'd been reported missing two hours ago, and it'd been sometime before they had found her. Added to that, Iruka's report of her draining herself in the test today...

Releasing the chakra from his own feet, he dropped and caught her before she hit the ground.

Hinata blinked up at him.

"Ka- nii san. Let me go. Please."

Kakshi blinked. She sounded...tired...defeated.

"I'll go home. Just... not yet."

A soft sound signalled Rin's descent.

"Hinata chan." The girl's voice was soft and unmuffled. _She musthave removed her mask. _Kakashi removed his own ANBU mask as the eleven year old looked at the older girl. Rin's eyes were warm and forgiving, but Hinata knew she would not be let go that easily. Not yet.

"What was the result of the test today?"

Kakashi blinked. Wasnt it obvious?

"...We failed."

"All of you?"

"Me and Sakura and Sasuke. Katana was not allowed to give the test. Hokage sama forbade Iruka sama."

The ANBU exchanged glances. _Forbade? _That was news.

Hinata sniffed.

"I th-think hes going to make her drop out of the academy. Sasuke was supposed to wa-lk her to Academy. He said she wouldnt come out of her room. He he said he heard Hokage Sama arguing with Kushi-shina Baa chan ab-ab-about ke-eping her in academy. "

Hinata was barely in control of herself now. "He said, he sai-said he'd give us a chance. All of us. Wh-Why...?"

Rin sighed. Learning of her friend's fate and then failing her Genin exam. No wonder she hadnt gone home. _Poor kid_.

A quick exchange of jabs betwwen her and Kakshi ensued before he sighed in defeat.

Rin turned to the sniffing heiress infront them and considered.

"One hour."

Hinata started.

"One hour then you go home. Ok? I'll tell your dad."

Head still bowed, the Hyuga nodded. The ANBU slipped their masks back on and turned to resume their patrol. On impulse, Kakashi turned back before joining his partner.

"Dont get caught in anymore of the traps, do you hear? The closer you get to Hokage tower, the louder the alarms are. Dont want to wake up the whole village now."

The girl nodded. "Hai, ni san." He sighed and ruffled her hair. Yeah, yeah...so he was a softie. So what?

"Theres always next time kiddo. It's ok."

The girl nodded after a few seconds and he kicked off. Two buildings away his team watched his approach. A female ANBU with a red dog mask cocked her head to a side before turning to her teammates.

"He sure seems happy for someone who just made a little girl cry, eh Murasaki?"

Rin grinned under her almost identical purple mask.

"And if you think she was crying cousin, you are less worthy of your title than Baa chan says you are."

Kakashi reached them just in time to catch the kunai sent his partner's way by his indignant subordinate.

"Aiming at your leader? Mutiny does not become you, Aka Yasha."

The female in question snorted as she caught the kunai.

"Leave the nick naming to Tiger why dont you Kuro? Or the Kyubi brat. Theirs are better."

The man in the black dog mask shook his head at the mention of his ward and the team fell silent as they contemplated the new information they'd recieved.

"I can understand them attempting and failing, but to remove his daughter from the academy? And she'd been begging for a chance to redeem herself. Why? Why now?" The last team member voiced their confusion. Kakashi sighed.

"Who knows Chairo? They had a week to redeem themselves. Who knows how Hokage Sama's mind works? Why he does what he does?"

Aka laughed as they kicked off, resuming their rounds. "Aah, this mysterious trait must've been imparted to the student as well."

Kakashi was too well trained to let her see the effect of her comment, but he had heard her. Of that she was sure. Chairo rolled his eyes. Stupid Aka, why did she have to play with their team leaders already testy tempers? The woman carried on undaunted.

"Mah, I guess we'll never know why Kuro Sempai did those seals so slowly and carefully."

One second.

Two seconds.

Sigh and sigh.

Murasaki turned her head ever so slightly.

"What'll it take?"

Aka grinned under her mask. _Bingo_.

"Oh lets see...It's eight o'clock, where _could _we go? Chairo?"

Chairo shook his head before joining in.

"Ichirakus open. And the new bar." Murasaki and Kuro turned and stared. "What?"

Aka barked out a laugh. "Didnt know you had it in you toothpick!"

"Its a senbon!"

...

Hinata looked up. The team was long gone but she had to make sure. Ninja infiltration lesson No. 2: after encountering an enemy larger than you, wait till it has passed you by completly. Ensure its departure before continuing your mission. Safe shinobi meant successfull shinobi. Unlike peoples beliefs, Hinata _**did**_ pay attention in class. As someone had once told her: brains and brawn make a shinobi. Add crocodile tears and acting skills and a kunoichi is born. Not that Kakashi Ni had fallen for it. She wasnt sure if he was going to report her...but atleast now she had what they had been after. Katana's early morning escapades had alerted them to the multiple traps laid around the Hokage tower, and they had needed the key. Sakura and Sasuke were supposedly under Itachi's eye. And Katana was supposed to be moping in her room. So that left...

Hinata shook herself mentally. No time for dilly dallying. She needed to_**focus **_. She went through the seals and pressed a finger each to the three beads on the chain round her neck. _Come on_ . She willed as her chakra pushed in. _Hurry_.

A minute passed.

Two minutes.

Three.

"Haha, you got it!"

"Ofcourse she did."

"Hn."

She opened her eyes to find her friends grinning at her. Well, Sakura and Katana were grinning. Sasuke was doing the strange smirking thing he always did.

Hinata grinned as elation coursed through her. _She'd done it!_

"Hai." She murmured as she went through the seals Kakashi had done before. She smiled at Katana's soft whoop of delight before beckoning to them. "Come," she said, "We only have a little over an hour left. We need t-to hurry."

Sasuke glanced at her.

"Your stuttering again."

She blushed.

"Its ok." At his raised eyebrows she giggled. "I'm excited!"

There was a pause and then Sasuke did grin. A real grin, small as it was. Hinata didnt mind. She hadnt seen him grin in years. As they kicked off she remembered something.

"How did you get out?"

Sakura giggled.

"We told them Katana needed a walk."

Up ahead, the red head turned around. Blue flashed from under the red bangs as a her grin lit up her face.

"What am I, Pakkun?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Sakura snapped at the other girl to hush before turning to the girl running on his right.

"You're not crying are you?"

"N-no," Hinata's voice cracked as she lifted her eyes to his, tear tracks fresh on her face. He blinked. She laughed as her friends exchanged glances. "No, its just," she smiled "We're back. We're back!"

They understood. Cryptic as it was, they understood what she was trying to say. Katana grinned like she hadnt grinned in four long years.

"Hell yeah Dattebane! Now lets go get that scroll!"

Sasuke sighed, "Sakura?"

Thud

"Ow!"

"Urusai! Katana no Baka!"

Hinata laughed.

Yes. Yes they were back.

And Kami be her witness, she was going to ensure that they stayed that way.

XXxxxXxxxxXX

**And there we have it! Chappie no. Four.**

**Somethings Id like to clear up before you kill me:**

**The ANBU members, their identities and names: Kuro, Murasaki, Aka and Chairo are Japanese for Black, Purple, Red and brown respectively. Yasha means Demon. As for the identities of Aka and Chairo, lol, who do you think they are?**

**I'd really like to know!**

**Secondl, I apologize for how short this is. But my finals are in like, two weeks. So bear with it for like a little while longer k? Please?  
**

**Rate and Review please!**

**Arigato! **


	5. Chapter 5

_**First off, people: I am SO so very sorry. I wanted to update, I really did. But College is – as I'm sure you lot know- a bit of a drama queen. I just started my freshmen year at Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore. Yes, that IS a bit of a mouthful, which is why we at Kinnaird prefer to think of ourselves as KCites. And ofcourse it took some time to get used to college life, even without the hassle of hostel life. What with getting used to the semester system, choosing electives, signing up for clubs and societies and dealing with the mind frying duties that come with being CR…yeah, not the best few months of my life. That, coupled with writer's block and the assignments…lol, you get the idea.**_

But I'm BAAACK. So heres to hoping you guys will forgive me. Because I come bearing gifts: namely, this month's update to my baby: These Bonds We Keep. I'm hoping to give you guys more back stories as we progress, but I've also tried to balance the flashbacks with current events. Also, my friend read the fic and recommended I throw in a little action ASAP. So, yeah. Heres my first attempt at that.

_**Thank You so very much for your patience and love. This Chapter is dedicated to all the people who faved and reviewed. You have no idea how much it means.  
**_  
_**Disclaimer: PakiNoor owns her OCs and her Fics. Naruto and The Last Guardian challenge however, belong to Kishimoto Sama and The General Electric Sama respectively.**_

___**These Bonds We Keep: **__The Kings and Queens of Promise_

When Katana was little, and still not immune to the villager's hatred, she had asked her older brother what kept him going. He had grinned and told her how, as a child, he had been mocked by the older shinobi when he announced his ambitions, of his dreams of becoming Hokage, but how one man had stood up to defend him and simultaneously set him back on his feet. "Don't worry squirt. There are some good people in this world. You'll find a friend like that too."

Now as she watched Sasuke thread his chakra strings through the intricate web set over the Hokage's safe, she remembered, clearer than ever, what gave her the strength to keep going the way she did. Naruto had had Iruka. She, however…had had Fugaku.

_Block. Block. Block_

_Incoming right kick._

_Swerve, dodge it. Leap- but not to the back as her opponent had expected, but onto his back- performing a midair summersault, she kicked out at his neck, knocking him to the ground, before she rolled to her feet on solid ground. He was down, but not out for the count, so she went back into a fighting stance. She could not afford to celebrate, not yet._

_There was a tense second before her opponent flickered out of sight._

_A sharp intake alerted her and, shifting her weight to her left foot, she swung back, raising her left foot to hit her opponent in the diaphragm. Even before he landed on the ground, she had leapt away, out of his reach. But not safe. Shinobi were never safe._

_Some part of her mind recognized the sound of the buzzer going off, but somehow it just didn't register. Sunk in a low crouch, she focused on the winded boy in front of her._

_Sasuke got back to his feet but rather than head into an attack, he bowed to her. It was with a start that she realized the match was over._

_There was a tense second before someone started clapping in the background._

_"Well done children, you've improved."_

_Katana controlled herself enough to return her opponent's bow before whirling to meet her was clapping shyly with a s,ile on her face while Sakura was all out wooping._

_"Do you really think we've improved, Fugaku sama?" She wondered, belatedly, if he could hear the hope in her voice as clearly as she could._

_The approaching Uchiha deliberated for a moment before answering._

_'Your taijutsu could still use some work and you need to improve your could use some work on his counter attacks. Your speed however has increased greatly. I can see that Gai san's idea is yielding some results."_

_Katana grinned and ran a hand over the weights bandaged on to her arm. _

_"Aniki said that too. But he says I'm not nearly as fast as I should be. He said I need to be at least as fast as Otousan when Kaachan wants to make teacakes, or as fast as Shizune nee when Tsunade baa sama cant find her sak'e or-" Here she paused. Perhaps not all her Aniki's pearls of wisdom were meant to be shared with others. And Fugaku sama was turning that weird color the way most adults did when she talked too long. Oh well. Shrugging it off like she'd seen her (awesome super cool) Kakashi nee do every time he got in trouble, Katana concluded "Well. Any way. I guess he's right, about needing to practice I mean._

_Fugaku choked backed a laugh. "Yes, I agree. How often are you practicing Hime?"_

_"Well I have training with you, then Aniki when he's free…and Kakashi ni trains all of us with Itachi Ni some times and"_

_"No, hime, how many times do you practice on your own. In your family's dojo for example."_

_The girl was suddenly very quiet. Fugaku's gaze grew a bit harder. Adorable as she was, he would not compromise on training."Surely you've been practicing on your own? The Namikaze dojo should be adequate for training." Still, she was silent. "Katana? Surely you've been training?"_

_The girl looked up then looked back to the ground. Fugaku barely caught her whispered reply._

_"Tousan doesn't like it."_

_Fugaku blinked. "What was that?"_

_"Whenever he sees me in my training gear, he- he gets all quiet. He doesn't like hearing about my training and Kaachan says not to upset him because hes always so tired, so I can't talk to him about it. And he has the Dojo keys so I can't go in without him. And…" Katana gulped "I don't think he wants me to be a shinobi. He doesn't…like me when…"_

_Fugaku blinked. This was interesting. And at the same time-very disturbing._

_"Your father is Hokage, it is to be expected that his duties would tire him out. But I do not think he would wish for you to not join the ranks of Konoha's shinobi. It is in your blood."_

_Silence as the other children fidgeted._

_"Perhaps you misunderstood Hime'."_

_At this she looked up. "He told Kaa chan he was going to have me removed from the Academy."_

_"What?" Fugaku was incredulous as he glanced at his son for confirmation. But even the boy was staring at his best friend, non pulsed, jaw slightly slack. Clearly, she had not taken any of her friends into her confidence._

_"I wasn't snooping! I was meditating so he didn't hear me and I was outside the kitchen and he was in the kitchen talking to Kaa Chan and he said that. He said- He said he couldn't save me out there and that he couldn't assign anyone to babysit me in the field. He- he So he said" At this point Fugaku realized that the girl was near hysterics-" he said he was going to talk to Iruka sensei tomorrow and get me removed from the Academy."_

_The Uchiha's face clouded and he sighed. Of all the idiotic ways to go about things. Minato. What was wrong with him? What had happened?_

_Shaking his head he focused on the problem at hand. He would need to talk to Minato later, that much was clear. But Minato and his stubbornness needed more than eloquent speech and logical proofs. It sometimes needed a bit more…force. To achieve that he would need a team. And to gather such a team would take time. But for now, this little one needed his help. And so did the other children, who were clearly agitated by their friends discomfort._

_Fugaku focused his attention on the fidgeting red head. He frowned, where was Mikoto? She was so much better at this than he was. It was why he left his own brood in her capable hands. But for now…_

_Fugaku knelt to the girls level._

_"Katana" His tone was, he hoped, appropriately softer. "Your father does not wish to render you incapable of defending yourself, he merely wishes you did not have to."_

_The girl blinked. "He does not…?"_

_The Uchiha patriarch frowned as he attempted to come up with a suitable explanation. How did one explain a stubborn father's justification to a seven year olds? A snide voice , much like his own mother's, croaked in his head : **The same way Mikoto does ofcourse.** Inwardly, Fugaku grimaced at his conscience. **Not helping.**_

_Suddenly, he hit upon a plausible explanation._

_"Why does Mikoto abstain from most missions?"_

_The children blinked._

_"Because she is a clan head's wife?" Katana ventured._

_"But she is also a Shinobi." Sasuke countered._

_The girl frowned at the new angle. And here Hinata asked_

_"Did the Uchiha council stop her?"_

_**Close**… mused Fugaku. "No, I did."_

_Amazement lit up the eyes of the little girls. Their Jiji? Stopped his wife?_

_"Why?"_

_"Because the thought of my wife having to ward off a bunch of ruffians is too much. I worry about her."_

_Sasuke was indignant at his father's womanizing. "But she's so strong, and fast!"_

_"So is Itachi," Fugaku pointed out "So is Naruto. But do they return from their missions without any wounds, any injuries?"_

_"No," Katana allowed slowly, the cogs in her head whizzing as she processed the new data. Suddenly she looked up. "Tousaan only gives Kaachan escort missions. But it's not because shes weak." She scoffed and it took all of his inherent Uchiha pride to refrain from joining her. "It's because he doesn't want her to get hurt!"_

_**Excellent.**Fugaku nodded._

_"But what if there's a problem? Like an attack, or war or…"_

_Sakura's question made him hesitate. It would be so easy to laugh off her worries. To say as he was sure their mothers would, that they had nothing to fear. That Konoha was the best of the villages, the greatest, and that they were safe. But Fugaku would not stoop to mollycoddling children so. These were the future of Konoha's armed forces. They deserved the truth. Which is why he had taught them at the very start: Shinobi were never safe._

_"As long as the village's security and well being, and our personal lives can be run without compromising on the other, we will live as we do now. But when Konoha needs us, we as shinobi, have no choice but to sacrifice everything for her."_

_The children stared up and as he continued, he saw a glimmer of understanding in their eyes._

_"Your fathers know this. Just as the other clan heads know this. Just as I know this. As citizens of Konoha, we swear to be loyal to her, to honour her traditions, to be her strength, to continue the traditions of our forefathers, to keep alight the Will of the Fire. In times of crisis, the villagers can be excused for choosing their own families over the defense of the village. But as Shinobi, we have no choice. Because for us, honour, loyalty, tradition are more than words. They are the very mantra we live by._

_But in the end, we are human. So even though we realize the need for you to learn to defend yourselves, the thought of our offspring hurt and alone is too much to bear. So we choose to ignore that need." And here he turned to Katana, who blinked and nodded as he said "pretend it does not exist."_

_The children were silent. Sakura and Hinata were fingering the clan symbols on their vests. Sasuke's attention how ever, was on his friend. The redhead in question was staring intently at the ground. As her frown deepened, Sasuke scowled and glanced at his father. Fugaku winced and hoped he had not confused the child. He straightened up._

_"I will speak with your father regarding-"_

_"No."_

_Fugaku looked at the girl in surprise. A determined look had crept on to her face as she turned to her friends and smiled . She looked up at the clan leader._

_"I think this is something… that I need to do."_

_Shell shocked, the clan leader could only nod. Bowing, the girl murmured a "Sayanora" and sprinted off. Grumbling, Sasuke took off after his friend, the other two in tow. He shot his father a grateful look as he passed by and said "We may be late for supper." before picking up speed._

_The field was quiet for a few moments after their departure. Then, from the branches above, came the sound of applause. As it was picked up by the other ANBU in the trees, Fugaku heard a distinct voice murmur: "Thank You, Tousan. They - " here the boy stopped, but quick as a wink, Shisui picked up where his cousin broke off. "**WE **needed that."_

_The center of the attention merely shook his head as he looked at the streaks of dust racing towards the gate. Pride coursed through his veins and a strange feeling filled his heart. A feeling similar to the one he had experienced the day his father had tied his hiat'e around his head In those four children he had suddenly seen himself, all the hopes and dreams he had had. All the expectations people had had of him. Things he had written off as unachievable. But something in those clear eyes had brought back a piece of him. And he realized that there was still hope. _

_**Come what may**, he thought.** As long as they are here, the will of the fire will live on.**_

**Present Day**

"Got it."

Sasuke's grunt brought Katana out of her reveries. Wiping her eyes, she turned to where her friends were crouching over the stolen scroll.

It was huge, she noted again as she drew closer. Releasing the seals on her father's safe had been a walk in the park compared to the monumental task of actually transporting it to a far off, secluded part of the forest. And there had been the task of understanding the text provided. But it would be worth it, she reminded herself. If they could just learn one of these jutsus. Just one. That would show them. And now that Sasuke had decoded the last seal, they were just one more step closer.

She followed her friend's lead as he stood up and took them through the seals. One by one they memorized the precious seals. It was an hour before they were satisfied with their efforts. Then as one, they went through the seals one last time.

Katana grinned at her friends as the children brought together the index and middle fingers from both hands, crossed them and yelled

"Juro! Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxx

"Where is she?" Minato's tone may have been soft, but no one nissed the steely glint in his eyes. Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Itachi tensed from either end of the Kage's table even though they knew that the Kage's anger was not directed at them. Minato had that affect on people. An always awe inspiring, sometimes blood curdling feeling that made strong men want to run for the hills. Right now, as Kakashi's team stood their ground in front of their Kage, Hiashi thought they might be experiencing the latter of the two.

"Sources confirm Katana hime left the main building of the Namikaze house with her friends. She led them to the family dojo, went inside, and as is their custom, sealed the dojo so as to avoid detection of any chakra spikes that may occur during sparring. It was only when Hinata hime was reported missing that we checked on the dojo and discovered that the children were missing."

Here Kakashi paused. They had had to drag their beloved leader from his dinner for that. His reaction to the development had not been very pleasing. That coupled with a chunnin team's report that that the Hokage Tower's wards had recently been tampered with had caused an uproar. Kushina hime had had to be physically restrained from hunting down "the monsters who captured my children!". And the Hokage had very nearly blown a hole through the roof when they discovered the theft of the sacred scroll. Teams had been dispatched but so far there was no trace of the scroll or the missing children. Though he was getting tired of putting up with this drama, he had stuck with it, refusing to betray the children. They had guts, pulling off an operation like this and Kakashi would not ruin it for them. However, his Kage did need answers.

"We have as yet been unable to find Katana hime, Sakura hime, Hinata hime or Sasuke kun. But we are sure that they are still within the village boundaries."

Minato raised a brow. "And the scroll."

Kakashi sighed. "That too, my lord."

"And you have no way of confirming this other than your …feeling."

At Kakashi's silence, Minato growled out an "Excuse me" and teleported out the room. The papers were still flying around as everyone tured to the Uchiha patriarch. Itachi raised a brow and sighed. "He's at the top of the Hokage monument. I can sense his chakra near my tags there."

As one the elite team sighed and took off their masks. Hiashi turned towards the ANBU team as Itachi sealed the room. "Alright. What happened?" He was startled by the silent laughter in the ANBU members' eyes.

Kakashi barked out a laugh. "Isnt it obvious?"

Itachi blinked at him, a silent message passing back and forth before he allowed a small grin. "They didn't."

"They did." Confirmed Rin as she turned to the Hyuga leader. "Their reserves are too vast to channel the tiny amounts needed for a simple Bunshin."

Hiashi blinked before a tiny smirk appeared. "The first of the thousand jutsus…"

Genma grinned. "Yup, the munchkins stole the sacred ninja scroll."

Only his dominant Hyuga genes stopped Hiashi from laughing out loud as he looked towards the Hokage monument. In the dim light, he could just make out the white figure standing on top. "I wonder if he knows."

"Sensei? Oh don't worry, he's probably wondering how to reward them without coming off as too soft."  
Rin's laughter was infectious, and Hiashi allowed himself to join in the chuckles before glancing up at the monument again.

"Oh Minato. You poor fool."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxxX


	6. Chapter 6

***peeks out from behind MUN research binder and Political Science notes***

I have a question.

**If I apologized for the super late update, blamed it on my final exams and projects, how many of you would forgive me?  
Really?  
How about if I throw in Chapter 6 as well?**

Funny story: I was telling my mom about this fanfic. And I mentioned how I didn't have time to update before. She quirked an eyebrow at me and asked: Well, why don't you do it _**now**_**? **

**Okay, so maybe it's not that funny. But it filled in the empty space that was staring at me from the screen. Shush you.  
**

**Thank You to AnoXaero, Flies with Pigs, Blackheart9512, magifury, MercuryDawn, OrigamiTurtle, and several others for subscribing to my story and adding it to your favorite's list. It was such a surprise seeing all those names crop up in my inbox. I felt quite giddy I can tell you that.**

PakiNoor would like to inform you all that the rumors about her having bought the rights to Naruto are false. She still owns nothing.  
Yes, that was a Disclaimer.  
:P

**On with Chapter six!**

There was something extremely refreshing about situations like these times when your students learnt something new. When they pushed themselves to achieve something and you could stand there in the background knowing that it had been all because of you. Though, Mizuki thought, it wasn't often that the students chose to _steal classified information _or _ancient texts _from the_ Hokage's sealed chest_. He had to admit, he was impressed, he never thought they'd actually go through with it.

_Then again_, he thought, _what else were we to expect from Konoha's no. 1 unpredictable Ninja Crew. _It had been ages since they had used that moniker, but tonight's actions had proved that the children had no intention of losing their title anytime soon. In fact, Mizuki thought this particular stunt would earn them back their place in the Konoha Police force's "**Most likely to be the cause of it**" list. They hadn't lost their touch. If anything, they'd gotten better. The Chunnin instructor glanced at the teacher perched next to him.

"They grow up so fast, aye Iruka? "

Iruka smiled grimly. "Seems like only yesterday that Katana was struggling to perform a simple bunshin no jutsu."

"It _was_ yesterday." Mizuki grinned.

Iruka frowned and after a moment, said "Not for another hour."

"You're planning on waiting it out for _another hour_? Iruka come on." When his fellow teacher didn't comment, Mizuki quirked a brow. "Shadow nin got your tongue Iruka?"

Iruka's silence was starting to irk him. That plus the fact that it had been Iruka who had refused to call back up as soon as they had located the children. Mizuki felt nervous. And that was never a good sign. When Mizuki got nervous, bad things happened. Very bad things. But he could be patient. Mizuki could be very patient when he wanted to be. And he would find out what Iruka was after. And how Iruka had known where the brats would be in the first place.

The man in question shifted on the branch and Mizuki turned to him again. His eyes narrowed and he dropped the teasing tone he'd adopted before. Screw patience. He'd been patient enough as it was. Three hours on the god forsaken branch were testament to that.

"Iruka."

The chunnin didn't move but Mizuki knew he finally had his colleague's attention. He fixed him with a stern look and waited.

It only took a moment for his patience to be rewarded.

"You want to know why I haven't stopped them yet." Below them Katana let out a particularly loud shout of annoyance and Mizuki assumed she'd failed at the jutsu once again. As Sakura chastised her friend not too gently, Iruka sighed. "You think me a coward. Or a traitor?"

"Just a teacher gone soft." Mizuki softened a bit. "I know they're your favorites Iruka. I'm fond of them too, but _they failed_. They can try again next year-"

"No."

Mizuki frowned at the interruption. "It's only they're first year Iruka. They get three tries."

"Not this time." Iruka turned to face his coworker. "Hokage Sama has decided to withdraw Katana and Sakura from the Academy. The Hyugas and Uchiha Sama are planning on the same for Sasuke and Hinata." His frown deepened. "Don't you see? This is their _last chance_." He turned back to the children.

Mizuki stared at the chunnin. He had heard rumors but hadn't bothered with them. Konoha's P4 removing their heirs from the Academy? Impossible. At least that's what the teachers had decided over their coffee _that morning. _

_Well shit._

This was… disturbing. He hadn't counted on that. He hadn't counted on that _at all_. Suddenly he remembered Iruka's previous words.

_Not for another hour…_

"You're planning on letting them learn that Justu?" Mizuki's eyes were wide. "Iruka, you're not serious. Do you think they _can_?"

"I _know _it." The conviction in the older man's voice startled the younger Chunnin. If he was lying, Iruka's voice did not betray him.

"Iruka- they're _children_. Talented and gutsy no doubt but children nonetheless. Hokage sama himself said that it took him _days _to meet the Thousand Clone Jutsu's exact requirements. And even longer to master it! And that's the Hokage were talking about! He's-"

"-One man. And they're five. And they don't need to make a thousand. Just one each. Just one. And they pass."

"One clone, yes. But it has to be in front of a _panel of judges_." Mizuki argued, his eyes darting to the children –_children-_ below them. But Iruka was nothing if not obstinate.

"Composed of their _teachers_" He turned to Mizuki and if he had been a lesser man, Mizuki would have quailed at the look in the older man's eyes. " I _know_ it's a long shot Mizuki. I _know_. But we owe it to them to give them this time."

Mizuki's eyes hardened. "We gave them _three years_ Iruka. If they couldn't get it right in three years, they _won't_ get it in less than an hour. It _cant be done_."

"Yes. _Yes, it can._" Iruka met him, glare for determined glare, and Mizuki saw something in those eyes that stopped him short. A well known fact was that the only reason the Hokage had not promoted Iruka was his repute as an academy instructor. The man could come off as lenient and easy going, but when the situation demanded it, Iruka did not hesitate from unleashing what his students often referd to as "Demon Sensei mode." Veterans often joked about how the brats weren't off the mark. Iruka was famous in the field as well.

_Konoha Yasha…_

Mizuki had a healthy respect for his fellow teacher, but he would keel over and die before he let the fool's sentimentality interfere with his plans.

"No Iruka, it _can't_. Look, I care for them too-"

"Really?"

Mizuki frowned. "What?"

"Do you really care about them? Forgive me Mizuki, but I must say I'm beginning to doubt that."

Mizuki blinked before he understood that that had been an _insult_. He held back a snarl and chanced a glance below. The children had regrouped and were going through the seals together. _They cant have…_  
He forced his mind back to the actual problem. Breathing in deeply, he closed his eyes briefly, making a show of controlling himself. _Don't lose it. Not now. Not after you've come so far. Not. Now._

"Iruka," he opened his eyes to find he had his colleague's complete attention. "I _know_ what they've been through- it- its been hard. On all of us." Iruka's eyes didn't waver, and Mizuki went on. "No one can know better than _us_. We _lived_ it. Both of us. Or don't you remember?" Iruka's mouth tightened as Mizuki's eyes rested momentarily on the scar across the older man's face. "Yeah, I thought so. Look Iruka, they've had it bad, but that's _life_. How long do you expect people to molly coddle them? Maybe it's a good thing their parents made this decision. Maybe this'll shock them a bit. You know, kind of _make them _pull up their socks a bit and all. Yeah, it sounds a bit _too _harsh but…Tell you what. We'll go to the Hokage tomorrow. Both of us. We'll-"

"_We_?"

Mizuki glared at the interruption. "Yes. _We_. As in both their teachers. Why? Can't it be done?"

Iruka frowned at him for a moment before looking back to the where the brats were practicing. Come to think of it… They had been pretty quiet after the last time… Mizuki glanced to the ground quickly before looking back to Iruka.

And then he spun around, his eyes wide, almost choking on his own spit.

Because the brats were gone.

Something hard was pressed against his neck, and to his right, Iruka murmured calmly "Oh it can be done, but weren't you planning on a little trip tonight?"

"Neh… Sensei…" Mizuki's eyes widened- if possible- even more.

It was said that, in battle, an Uzumaki woman only spoke softly when her enemy was well and truly cornered. Katana may have been only _half_ an Uzumaki, but her voice-suddenly deadly quiet-did the legend credit.

_As quiet as death…_

Mizuki swallowed and glanced at the man sitting beside him. Iruka's could've been sitting in the Teacher's lounge, so relaxed was his stance, but his eyes were hard and cold. Again, Mizuki's mind summoned the old nickname.

_Konoha Yasha_

He swallowed again. _Those darn brats. They told him. THEY TOLD HIM. _There was no other explanation. It had been planned from the start. It had all been a plan. No wonder they'd managed to steal the scrolls in the first place. And, as he made sense of it all, Mizuki relaxed.

In battle, all he needed, was to understand the situation. Once that was done, Mizuki was an unstoppable foe.

He smiled now and turned to his colleague (or _I suppose… __**ex**__ colleague would be more appropriate_).

"So," he drawled, "How many ANBU are we talking about?"

Iruka's brow furrowed. "…what?"

Mizuki rolled his eyes. "You don't really expect me to believe that the _children_ pulled this of alone do you? A high level operation of this caliber ? No, tell me Iruka, how many ANBU are here? Or Jonnin atleast. The Hokage wouldn't have spared his ANBU to track his daughter, would've looked too suspicious. After all its not like the man really _cares_ about the demon child."

Iruka had looked amused a moment ago. But now his face was wiped clean of emotion, frozen in a horrified mask. Mizuki laughed and turned his head a little to meet his (ex?) student's eyes. "Come come little Katana, Mizuki Sensei only jests. Of course daddy cares! Konoha has already lost the Sannin _and _the Little Flash… it wouldn't do to lose its last greatest weapon too."

The girl was silent, her head bowed. It was a pity really, that her red air covered her eyes. Mizuki would've loved to see her expression. She must have been devastated. The Kunai at his neck how ever did not shift an inch. _I suppose I managed to teach her __**something,**_ Mizuki mused as he turned back to face his ex colleague. "Iruka, you're boring me. Come now," and he raised his voice "Are there **no **shinobi here?"

A moment of silence, and then the leaves rustled behind him.

_At last. _Mizuki turned fully in order to face his foe. But his taunt died on his lips. Because the sight before him was _definitely _not what he'd expected.

Three pairs of eyes looked back from the darkness. Two pale and ghostlike, darting from his neck to his feet. Mizuki realized that they were looking at his chakra points. Two jade orbs glinted as the girl shifted into a tai jutsu pose. But the third…

This was no gen jutsu, Mizuki realized as Iruka and Katana shifted into their own stances. _Because you can't fake a sharingan_.

"Are five shinobi enough sensei? Because we have five shinobi. And a traitor's blinding ego to boost."

A tense moment followed .

And then the branch exploded.

On the Hokage monument, Minato's eyes shifted to the right as birds erupted from the forests. But when the Hokage did not move and his top ANBU team also stood their ground, the remaining ANBU leaders maintained their positions.

A long moment passed. Minato turned and raised a brow at the remaining leaders.

"Well."

Silence greeted him, and his brow furrowed.

"What are you _waiting for_?"

No one spoke for a moment before one of the elite _Yasha_s spoke.

"A reason."

"A _what_?"

And then the leader of team Yasha stepped forward. "Sensei."

Minato scowled and turned away, but his former student removed his mask and stepped up to his leader.

"Sensei," Kakashi was persistent "_listen_ to me."

"You _lied_ to me."

"You asked me if I knew where they were. I did not. Neither did my team. You asked if I knew where the scroll was, I did not. I did not lie Sensei."

"You knew the children had it. You _knew _that Iruka knew where they would be. I should hang the lot of you."

"I guessed. I did not _know_."

Minato scoffed. "Then I should've listened to Danzo and waited a year more before granting you ANBU status. A simple chakra sweep would've solved that problem. _Why _did you not do so?"

There was a moment of silence in which Kakashi seemed to struggle with himself. A long moment before he turned around and looked helplessly at the teams gathered behind him. One of them, a mountain of a man with a scarred face stepped forward, and Kakashi visibly sagged with relief.

"Because they deserved this chance to prove themselves. And because there is something deeper a foot."

Minato who had bristled visibly the moment Ibiki started speaking, turned around slowly.

"Explain."

Ibiki's eyes narrowed.

"Iruka came to me this afternoon. He requested that if anything happened to the scrolls tonight, that we should delay informing you." He held up a hand as Minato opened his mouth, "Let me explain. Hokage Sama, he had a plan." The Hokage frowned.

The head of interrogation explained in brief what the plan had entailed. Kakashi winced. _Well. When you look at it like __**that**_**…**

A moment of silence passed after Morino Ibiki was done… That is of course, before Minato exploded.

"He _what_?"

_Those thrice damned brats! _Mizuki panted as he stopped to clutch at his wounded arm. _The gall of that little Haruno! I'll __**skin her alive**__!_

"Over there!"

_Shit. _He'd forgotten all about the Hyuga. Mizuki leapt to the right to avoid the rain of shuriken. He had to swerve to avoid a round house kick from Iruka. Grabbing Katana's approaching form, he flung the girl into the tree to his left. At her scream, Iruka changed course and leapt to grab her. _As planned. _He dodged the kunai thrown his way and turned to jump-

"Oof!"

He winced as the young Uchiha kicked him in the diaphragm, hurling both of them to the ground. The boy made to kick off of him but Mizuki grabbed his leg and _pulled_. Sasuke _poofed_ and turned into Katana. Both teacher and student, lost in their struggles, fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

"Katana!" four voices chorused in panic.

There was a moment of silence as the dust cleared. The observers waited with bated breath as a figure rose from the ground and one look at Hinata's face let Iruka know what he needed to know.

_Oh no…_

Mizuki weezed. _Man, the kid was __**heavy**_.

"What, no concern for your sensei? Why children, I'm hurt." He panted as he shifted the prone figure on his shoulder. "Don't worry, she's just stunned. For now," And he grinned maniacally at the four as they leapt to the ground. "But if you don't do as I say…" he held up a kunai and flipped the unconscious girl so that the kunai was aimed at the child's jugular vein.

Iruka stepped forward, hand raised, the scroll behind his back. _Bingo_. Mizuki grinned.

"Aah Iruka, I was wondering where that had gotten to."

"Mizuki," Iruka's voice wavered. "Please… _**no**_**.** You can have it. Just… _please_."

Mizuki shrugged, "I'm curious Iruka. Why? Why bother?"

Iruka frowned. "What?"

Mizuki rolled his eyes. "I can understand wanting to save the Hyuga and the Uchiha- those amazing eyes-" the girl paled even further as Mizuki licked his lips. "_What _I couldn't get for those." His eyes shifted to the pink haired girl. "The Haruno, well, her mother _was_ the Hokage's _best friend_. He couldn't let her die… But the Kyubi brat? Really?" Mizuki's eyes hardened. "Have you forgotten? This thing _killed our parents_. Have you really forgotten that night?"

Iruka was frozen, his eyes on the motionless girl in the deranged man's grasp. Mizuki turned on the three petrified children to find them in the same condition. "And _you_." Three pairs of eyes met his. The sharingan had finally died out he noted in satisfaction. "This thing is the reason you are _orphans_. Her brother _murdered _**your** family," he spat at Sasuke. "And **she** _killed _**your** mothers." Sakura's eyes were wide. The Hyuga brat was shaking violently. "**This**" and he shook the silent girl in his grasp "is the reason our village is at its knees. **This** _**thing**_ is the reason we lost the Uchiha clan!"

There was silence in the clearing save for the deranged man's ragged panting. The group watched as he pulled himself together and stood up straight again, the smile back on his face.

"But I'm nothing if not merciful. In fact, you don't even have to hand me the scroll. All I want is an answer. So tell me, Iruka," and he brought the girl up straight. "Why do you care?"

"Because,"

Mizuki's grin froze on his face as the Iruka before him "poofed" and turned into a red haired child.

_That wasn't Iruka._

And he looked down slowly , to meet the blue eyes looking up. Lips drawn grimly parted as the girl spoke.

"Because, I _believe in her_."

There was a loud "poof!" and Mizuki found himself airborne as a foot _too_ large to be Katana's caught him in his midsection. Iruka straightened himself as he prepared to launch himself into the clearing dust cloud. But suddenly fell to his knees, coughing up blood. The children, jubilant a moment before, stared in horror at the unusually large shuriken sticking out of his back as he fell to the ground. From where he had thrown Mizuki, the dust cleared to reveal a log.

"_Sensei!" _

No one had ever heard Katana scream like that. Mizuki hadn't thought it was possible. _A night of firsts.  
_Normally, his heart would've sung for joy at the sight of the Jinchuriki falling to her knees and crying. But right now, he didn't care.

He wiped the blood from his own face as he stood up from his crouched position behind the fallen shinobi. "Enough." He growled. "I've had _enough_. _**You**_ - " He snarled at the children behind the sobbing red head. "-You brats should be _thanking me_. _You should be thanking me, __**begging me**__ to kill her. _Don't you know? _She __**is **_the Kyubi!"

The children were frozen in their stances, and their eyes went to the suddenly still girl on the ground. Then, as one, they turned to each other. _Finally, _ Mizuki grinned. _Finally they will understand. Everything I am doing. It is for them. For Konoha. For a better Konoha. _He stood straighter, opening his arms. _They will come with me now. They will be mine now._ "Come children, I will protect you. There's nothing to be scared."

"We know." Said Sakura, strangely calm. Mizuki's smile faltered. _What NOW?_

"And we're not scared." Hinata said.

"But Sensei," the Uchiha's eyes bled red. "You should be."

He had not paid attention to the prone figure at his feet, not noticed it's fingers twitch, not seen the wires closing around him. He saw them at the last split second- but could not dodge the blur that had attacked him.

Mizuki crashed into a tree. He twisted and writhed but he couldn't move- the wires were holding him firmly in place. And as he tried to break through he realized that his chakra had been cut off.

Coughing, spluttering, he looked up.

And froze, his eyes suddenly very, _very _wide. Because there were _three _pink haired girls dragging Iruka to the nearby tree, and three more, panting next to no less than _four _Hyuga Hinatas. And because there was another Hyuga Hinata and a Haruno Sakura taking their place next to the now erect Katana and the red eyed Uchiha. Because that red glint in Katana's eyes was definitely not the result of a Sharingan.

And because those hand seals the children were going through were most definitely _not_ the regular seals for a shadow clone jutsu.

And then Sasuke spoke.

"We grew up with Katana. Our families were part of her personal guard. She's _my best friend-" _Unnoticed by the rest, Katana's eyes shifted to the boy at her left, the red glint fading a bit. From his place by the trees, a winded Iruka stared. The boy snarled at the man in front of him "-Did you think we wouldn't _know_?"

Mizuki recovered quickly. "You little _coward_,"

The red spark in Katana's eyes returned.

As one, the children completed the final seal. The clones next to Iruka disappeared before the sound of a collective shout filled the air.

"_Jurro! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

Mizuki coughed as the smoke cleared. He turned back to the children. _What are they-? _

He never got the chance to finish.

The clearing was filled- _filled - _with clones. From the branches they stared down at him, from the roots they stared up. Their eyes – Sharingan red, Hyuga white, Haruno jade and bright, _bright_ ocean blue- stared back into his own wide eyes. Iruka, staring in disbelief, found himself choking on tears of pride. _Yes. YES. _

And suddenly, for the first time that night Mizuki truly felt very, _very_ afraid. The Katana in the front rolled back her sleeves almost lazily. And Mizuki stilled as her voice dropped to a murmur.

"You're going to regret that… Sensei."

Minato had not moved from his post on the Hokage monument. The man's lips were set in a grim line, his arms crossed. A sudden gust of wind made his white coat billow behind him but he did not move. His eyes remained on the patch of green in the distant forest that had been the source of much disturbance that night. There had not been a sound from it for a whole five minutes. Silent as the shadows, the ANBU stood behind their leader, their eyes trained on the same patch of green.

Five more minutes passed.

Nothing.

The Hokage's head moved ever so slightly and Kakashi snapped to attention.

"Five minutes to midnight."

Namikaze Minato's lips grew even tighter. Somewhere in the sea of masks, Rin trembled. A hand touched her shoulder and she turned to look up at Morino Ibiki's scarred face. Hardened veteran he may have been, but it was well known fact that he held a soft spot in his heart for the jinchuriki, and vice versa. When the Namikaze heir defected from his village all that time back, it had been Morino Ibiki who had brought Katana back from the blind rage the Kyubi had sent her into. He had somehow shaken her out of it. And Rin knew suddenly that if any one cared about the children now, it was him. As if he had heard her silent plea, the man nodded. _They'll make it._ But Rin couldn't find it in her to nod back as she murmured a silent prayer- little did she know, it was the thought on every ANBU's mind.

_Come on kids. Please. Please. Come back…_

"Four minutes."

Genma's frown deepened under his mask and next to him, Inuzuka heir's lips parted in a silent snarl.

_If there's a God around here, I've had _**enough**_ of your mysterious ways. This has got to be the __**worst**_ _possible-_

"Three-"

The ANBU suddenly tensed and slipped into their stances. Rin's eyes widened as she felt a large chakra source drawing closer. A split second passed.

And then, bloodied, bruised and supporting their panting- but grinning- sensei, an unconscious figure beaten beyond recognition- Genma winced- and an impossibly large scroll, twelve children appeared.

As the smoke cleared, the red haired triplets up front blinked up at the incredulous look on the Hokage's face. Her lips split into a grin and for a second, Minato saw, once again, the six year old that had sworn to become the first female Hokage. He blinked and the grubby toddler changed back to the exhausted triplets. Minato felt a surge of emotions- anger, horror, shock, _love, _**relief**,_**pride**_-emotions that unbeknownst to him, the onlookers shared in different degrees. The crowd's eyes went from the band on her head to the bare forehead of her teacher, to the dusty Hiate once again. Now what?

"Hi Dad!" Katana chirped. And then, true to her name, the leader of Konoha's most unpredictable ninja crew did something that was completely unexpected.

She let the clones disappear. And then her eye lids shut, and-grin still firmly on her face- the girl buckled and _fell-_

-straight into her father's arms.

…

***peeks out from behind Political Science notes-don't-judge-I-have-a-final-tomorrow***

…

…

…

**Well?**


	7. Chapter 7

**I still don't own Naruto, or The Last Guardian Challenge. BUT I do own this story, its plot and my OCs.**

**Please hold your applause (and your desire to kill me for this inexcusable delay) till the end of the show.**

**Chapter 7: With Clouds between Their Knees**

_"Green is the color of life little one."_

_Morino Ibiki held her close as she trembled in the grave yard. Somehow the man had known where she would be and had returned to the graveyard to find her hours after the funeral. Dressed in all black, she knelt before the great marble slab, her head resting against its base. He held on to her as she struggled against him, he held her till she quieted and simply trembled, fighting the tears. And even after the trembling died down, for a long time she simply stared at the grass around the marble slab. And he held her still when she murmured finally: _

_"I hate green."_

_"Green is the color of life little one," he said._

_"Then it shouldn't be __**here**__."_

_"Yes, it should." And then he told her why._

_Green was life._

_Green was the grass. The same grass that grew above the graves of their dead. Over the graves of the unknown, unsung heroes that gave their lives for Konoha, over and over and over. It was their spirits that gave that life to that grass because it grew taller and greener than that around it._

_Green was the moss. The same moss that crept around the sides of the Konoha Memorial. The single stone that bore the names of the fallen heroes whose names they did know. The same that covered hard, jagged stones that would have hurt their bare feet otherwise._

_Green was the ivy. The ivy that grew higher and higher, unyielding. The height of the walls did not cause it to falter, to stop, to fail. It would keep rising, growing taller and stronger until it had risen to the top of the structure. Like the ivy that grew around the Hokage Tower._

_Green was the trees. The grass at their base, surrounding them -uniting them. The Ivy growing around them - protecting them. And at the very top, the leaves that covered the bare branches. They stood united and created the shade that would ease the weariest and most hardened of travelers. They were the beginning and the end of it all. They were the reason. They were the cause._

_For a long time she listened as he spoke, explaining in detail. Some time around the end he noticed how her gaze had finally, finally shifted from the green around them to the slab she had been avoiding since the beginning._

**_Uchiha Fugaku –Uchiha Mikoto_**

**_Father, Brother, _**

**_Mother, Sister_**

**_Leaders_**

**_"And know that the flame never truly dies"_**

_Green is life Katana._

_Green is Konoha._

_…_

_…_

_…_

_They_ were Konoha.

XxXXxXxxXxXx

Something warm and furry brushed her cheek. A gruff voice nudged her mind.

_'Get up Kit. Their mewling is getting irritating.'_

Mewling?

And then she heard them.

Like a door opening, bright light filtered in. She blinked as it hit her and suddenly she could hear them.

"…have they kept this from us?"

"Not long, I think, they're children. They may have decided on a whim. What is important is that our Shinobi did not think to warn us that there was a traitor in our midst."

A sigh. _Tou-san? _" Danzou sama, I have heard their side of the matter. The council has agreed that while there were other methods available-"

"Methods that would not have endangered the Village, which is still recovering from the last Biju rampage."

"_While there were other methods available_, the circumstances had resulted in an unavoidable situation. It was the children who alerted the Senior Shinobi of Mizuki's intentions. And, really, if they had approached any of us, would we have listened? Or taken them seriously?"

"If we had an ounce of sense, we would have." Hiashi's voice was a low, gruff reminder that all had not been well, long before Mizuki's attempted betrayal. "Though of course, if we had had an ounce of the common sense _we're supposed to have_, the children- _our heirs- _ would not have been in this situation-!"

"Hiashi Dono," Itachi's soft voice brought an end to the Hyuga elder's tirade. "She is still resting."

_You couldn't get more obvious if you tried, _the Kitsune huffed from the back of her mind as she automatically stiffened. _Relax,they can't see you move. _Then, as if as an afterthought: _well, that is, if you could move. _

_That _got her attention. The Kitsune huffed as she started scratching at his tail. _Let me up you big … you… Fox!_

**_I'm not doing anything idiot, besides keeping you alive of course. Sides, the Uchiha's watching you. The rest can't tell we're talking, but if the Uchiha get's in here he'll know, and you know you're not supposed to be talking to me. Kit! _**As she felt his hold on her tighten,keeping her bed bound and immobile, his voice grew louder, suddenly strict.**_If you fight me anymore, I won't be able to keep your defences up._**She froze at that. Unwillingly, her mind conjured a picture of a sobbing Ino and a confused, very dizzy Sakura. Having Itachi nii in her head was not something she would like to experience anytime soon. She remembered when once, in their first few months at the Academy, Ino had tried to practically demonstrate how her clan's technique worked. Predictably, she had picked Katana. The two girls didn't get along (which Ino blamed completely on the red head), and everyone knew it. At the last minute Sakura had jumped in between the two girls. Even with her lack of experience, Ino had managed to somehow complete the Jutsu, though admittedly, the results had been different from what she had expected. Which is why, when the teachers came running back from their coffee break, they found the blond heiress desperately trying to get as far away from the four friends as possible, screaming about a pink monster that had threatened to pop her. Though the other students never really understood what had happened, they definitely developed a healthy respect for Sakura, and Katana had learnt to be wary of all doujutsu's and genjutsu's .

The Kitsune grunted. **_He wouldn't go that far, and you know that._**She shrugged and cuddled into his fur. Why was her subconscious so cold? **_Do I have to tell you everything? You're unconscious kit. You depleted your chakra reserves. Trying to show off with all those clones. I had to lend you some chakra half way through that little tiff you got so worked up about._** He cuffed her lightly on the head. Strange, he was never soft with her. She must really be injured badly for him to be…

_Sasuke! Hinata! Sakura! _She tried to move, but it was impossible. The Kyubi scowled down at her. When she didn't stop, he raised his paw and slowly brought it down on her shaking form. Effectively pinned down, she had no option but to glare up at the scowling face looking down at her. **_Safe. They're all safe. _**

_But…_

**_Katana. Listen. _**She looked up, scowl still marring her face. When he remained silent she tried to open the channels to talk to him again, but he nudged her with his paw to shut her up and jerked his head to where the light was still pouring in. Blinking, she looked towards the open door.

It took her a second longer to understand.

**_Listen to them._**

****"…if not today, then some day, Mizuki would have targeted the children, for one reason or another. We would never have been fully prepared. The man is mentally unstable, but he is an excellent strategist and a meticulous planner- the very reasons that the council of Elders nominated him for the leadership positions in assignments that he was often denied due to his low rank. Positions that the council argued should be allotted to him, because his "near genius" potential far outweighed his obvious inexperience. Positions we denied him, _we_, the Clan Council and the Council of Jounins denied him because we felt that sharing that level of intelligence with him would be hazardous."

There was a long silence after this and Katana mulled over the new information as the Kiyubi looked on, waiting for her to work it out on her own. As a young child, it had not taken her long to come to terms with the beast in her mind and she had often let him in on many of her plots and secrets. Similarly, he had learnt that when faced with a troubling situation, the child was best left to her own devices. With every prank, with every new adventure, the little princess had demonstrated an extraordinary intelligence, the kind that often reminded him of another shinobi he had known a long, long time ago, though he would never admit it. One who had had the same unique, mischievous streak, the same loyalty and courage, and the same intelligence that this fledgling kunoichi did.

And so he waited for her to work out the information on her own. And he was not disappointed.

_Danzou Sama is on the council of elders. _

_..._

_If the Clan Council and the Jounin Council actually agreed on something… it would have to be something… important, neh?_

_…They wanted him on my guard, didn't they? Or… Kuraima, did they want him to _train_ me?_

**_Can you imagine it? You were all attached to him, but you the most. He was your "special friend"._**

She felt a blush rising. _Stop it! He… at the hospital…he was the first one… to visit. He told me…_

**_What? _**There was no room for kindness in this situation. If this girl was to grow, if she was to discover even an ounce of her potential, and if he was to keep his promise, she would have to be trained. And while he knew that that fool of an over protective father of hers would now provide her with the physical training, he knew that the humans could not hope to begin on preparing her body if her psyche was not strong enough to handle the bare realities of life that would be thrown her way. And so he pressed on. **_What did he say?_**

_…that I could trust him._

**_Remember one thing kit, at some point or another, everyone will betray you. Some will do it because, fools that they are, they think it's best for you. Some will betray you because you're not thinking straight, and you need to be set on the right track again. Some will want you to learn a lesson. And some… some will betray you because in the end, when you're screaming and crying over the skeletons tumbling out of your closet, they'll be the ones to gain._**

**_Trust no one _****_completely_****_, no one but yourself. And even then, only when you know that you're in the right._**

They were quiet for some time after that, as she focused on the world beyond the door. The adults were still discussing the affair in the woods, but Danzou sama was admittedly less vocal this time round. Only by a little, but still. He knew he'd been chastised, she realized. _But was that the right thing to do? Won't that make things worse? I mean, what if the council- the elder council, what if they-_

**_The council often works on different principles, and that holds true for Danzou too. Your Hokage knows that, everyone knows that, and they know that everyone knows._**

She was quiet for a minute longer. _So they're not worried about the council of elders retaliating… or is it that the council can't retaliate enough?_

The Kiyubi grunted. **_Namikaze Minato is one of the few humans in shinobi history who can inspire that amount of loyalty. It's a unique gift._**

_And a burden, _she commented without really thinking. The great beast grunted in agreement.

**_All mortals must live with burdens kit._**

Though of course, he wasn't thinking about the Hokage when he said, but the kid didn't need to know.

_Can I get up now?_

He looked down.

_They're leaving. It's just Tousan and Kaachan now. And.. oh._

"Hokage Sama," a boy's clear voice broke through. "Did the Medics mention when she would get up?"

"No Sasuke, they said it was up to her now."

The Kiyubi grunted and nidged her a little harder than he had before. **_The boy? You take down a criminal and you're scared of the boy?_**

_I am __**not **__scared. _She argued as the light grew brighter and the dark, cool room faded away.

**_Then, by all means._**

**_"…_**Tousan? Kaa-chan?"

If it had been any other situation, she would have been humiliated at how her voice sounded right then. As it was, her throat hurt so badly she couldn't focus on anything else.

"_Katana!"_

A mass of red suddenly covered her face, blocking out the harsh lights. She sniffed. Apple, brown sugar and cinnamon.

And her lips tweaked.

"Kaachan, did you make pie today?"

Somebody laughed in the background as the red blur moved back a little and green eyes came into focus. Green eyes that were torn between laughter and furious tears.

A pink form joined her.

"Katana no baka! Do you know how worried we were? And all you can think about is your stomach!"

"I am not!" Her stomach grumbled in protest and the sound of shy laughter came to her ears again. "Though I wouldn't mind having some if that's okay. I haven't eaten since…" Her eyes went wide.

"The graduation! What- Mizuki- What day-?"

"Kushina," A soft male voice interrupted her frantic ramblings, "maybe you should go get her some food before she faints. Again."

Her mother's eyes softened a little. "Right. Girls, would you come with me? We'll get some for everyone."

"Hai!" But Sakura tugged at Katana's arm before leaving. "Welcome back baka." She smiled up at her pink haired friend before turning to her mother.

"Could you help me up before you go?"

Her father cut in before her mother could answer.

"We'll do that." And her mother nodded, bending down to hug her again.

"You are in so much trouble young woman," she hissed fiercely. And then her tone softened as she stroked the girl's cheek. "And we are all _so _proud." A final kiss to the forehead and Kushina moved away and a blond head took her place.

She blinked and blue eyes came into focus. "Tousan…" His eyes were guarded. Or maybe she was just too tired to read them. Either way, she couldn't confirm the emotion in his eyes as he bent down and shifted her slightly to raise her. His touch was gentle though, as was his voice when he said:

"Sasuke, could you rearrange her pillows please? Yes, like that."

"Tousan…" her hand clutched at his, and she held on despite her arm's protests at her sudden movements. The man stayed silent as he shifted her into place and she turned to look at her friend.

"Sasu-?"

"We're fine." His voice was gruff, but his tone was softer than she'd expected. That, at least, was heartening. "You?"

"I'm…" she thought for a second. Her body ached but other than that… "I think… yeah. I'm good too."

"You should be." He grunted, "You slept long enough."

"How long?" She asked in confusion. _How long did the kiyubi keep me under?_

"Two days." It was her father who answered and she whipped her head towards him so fast, she thought she'd get whiplash.

"Two _days?_ But. But…"

"Graduation was delayed." She turned to look at Sasuke and she thought he smiled a little. "Hokage Sama had it delayed because of the lax in security that Danzou Sama pointed out. Every one agreed."

"So he came before?"

"Before?" Her father's confusion was evident.

"I heard… I thought I heard him a little while ago, didn't they just leave? Him and Itachi ni and Hiashi Dono?"

There was a moment of silence before her father spoke. "Katana, they came yesterday, and the day before, but not today."

There was a long moment as she processesd that information, before she groaned. "Kur-" Sasuke tapped her hand and she blinked at him. "...I was drifting... wasn't I ?"

Sasuke nodded, and urged her to lay back. Mentally, Katana made a note to thank him. It would not do for her father to discover just how deep her bond was with her Biju. Not now, at least.

"Katana," she turned to meet her father's gaze and winced. Here it was. "How could you drag your friends into that situation? Don't you know any better? Why did you not alert me, or any one else? No, why did you not alert _me_?"

She looked down at that. "You wouldn't have listened. You know that."

"... I may have. You never know, if you had just. Katana...Do you have _any _idea what you've done?"

"...captured a criminal? Passed our graduation test?" She looked up at him, suddenly glaring, then huffed and turned away, covering her face with a blanket. Sasuke bit his lip and Minato blinked in confusion for a second before he scowled.

"Look at me when I talk to you."

"I don't talk to strangers."

"_Katana.._"

"No. I don't know who I 'm talking to right now. It can't be my Hokage, because my Hokage would not... wouldn't forget everything good we've done so far just because he's mad at me. Because the Hokage thinks for the whole village. For the good of the village. And he doesn't... he's never this mean. Not to his Shinobi." She flung the covers back and stared at her father. "And we _are _Shinobi now because we did it. We passed the test. We defended our village. We did it.

"And it can't be my dad, because my dad wouldn't... he's a fair man, a good man ad he'd be _proud _And he'd ask me how it went, and if I kicked butt, and if... if.. I would train with him tomorrow because there's stuff I could do better." She choked a little. "And you can't be my dad because... because he hasn't been around in _years_.

"I don't know who you are. I don't think _you _know who you are. I... I ..."

"Katana," it was Sasuke who finally calmed her down. "Dobe, calm down."

"No! I-"

"Enough Katana." He gripped her arms and pulled her in to a hug. She froze for an instant, because there was no way Sasuke ever initiated contact any more, but when his grip tightened, and he started rubbing circles in her back (like Mikoto sama did once...) she felt her arms circle his waist and she hugged him back for all she was worth. Sasuke looked up at Minato, who was staring at the scene, completely speechless, something raw and hard wrenching at his heart as the girl fought tears. The boy met his gaze ad something passed between them.

_Fix this. Please._

__"...Katana," the girl stilled as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Katana, look at me."

With some difficulty, he managed to get her to turn around, though the girl kept a firm hold on Sasuke. As both children looked up at him, Minato fought the barriers he'd put around himself to let his emotions surface, to let them _know._

__"I...was so worried. When I found out you were gone, I was so... and when I found out about Mizuki... I think I would have killed Kakashi right there and then.

"But I stayed back when they told me to. Because they, all of them, they had so much faith in you, they trusted you so. And I realized, that they believed in your abilities, in your potential, in _you_. Something... I had not done for a long time. And it made me realize," here, he took her face in his hands, tilting it up and it almost broke her heart when he saw her hard, defensive gaze, "I realized how I had ignored you completely, all of you. But mostly you Katana chan. I'd ignored my.. my child. And I know I was busy trying to restore the village because of my responsibility as a leader, but that- that was no excuse for completely forgetting my biggest responsibility- that of a father."

For an instant the girl was silent, and then as her lips trembled he saw it again. He saw the little girl who had brought so much joy in to his life, so much happiness, and he moved forward to catch her as she flung herself at him.

"Tousan!"

He stroked her hair as he gathered he to him and dropped his chin to rest on her head.

"And I've realized something else. I've realized that I've been wrong about you." He looked up and met Sasuke's eyes. "All of you. That I am proud. So, so very proud. And so, so sorry Katana chan."

It took a long time for her to finally calm down, but she did, eventually. As Sasuke helped her lay back on her pillows, she looked up at her father.

"Tousan?"

"Hai?"

"...About ... graduation?" Sasuke looked up at that too. Though the Hokage had delayed the graduation, there had been no update on how he was planning on dealing with the four of them.

He smiled and ruffled their hair. Katana looked both annoyed and delighted. Sasuke was simply shocked.

"Don't worry, though your methods were unorthodox at best, you all made it well within the deadline, and Iruka gave his blessings."

"You mean...?"

He nodded and grinned as she beamed. Even Sasuke looked pleased. "You're all graduating with your batchmates." There was a small squeak from the bedroom door and he tilted his head and called out, "I think we're ready for that pie now."

The door slid open and a blushing Hinata was pushed in ("Sa-Sakura Chan!"), followed by the culprit and a beaming Kushina. Minato winked at his wife as their daughter, injuries and minor emotional turmoil forgotten, began to flail in exciement.

"PIE! PIE! PIE! Yosh!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"So, Tousan," He looked up from his plate and had to supress a grimace at the sight of his daughter, whose face was completely covered with the food. "Who are we getting for a sensei?"

"Wipe your face Katana chan," Kushina broke in and reached forward to help her do that. "Besides, we don't know that yet. And even when your father decides, he can't tell us that. You'll have to find out on your own."

"Not tell? Not even awesome, legen- wait for it- dary! Shinobi like us?" He snorted as Katana gave him her best impression of the puppy dog eyes and succeeded in reminding them all of Kakashi's dog pack.

"No, dear. I 'm afraid not. Besides," he smiled at them, "you lot aren't shinobi yet."

_That _got their attenrion.

"WHAT? But we- and you- what what-WHAT?" The four children were flailing (well, not Sasuke, but the boy _was _pretty terrified).

"You mean all that work-?"

"The Academy designed tests are designed to ensure that you have the basic understanding of the most basic jutsus and theory and the physical prowess to pull them off. It's the _team tests_ that determine whether or not you have the _psychological _capacity to be a Shinobi."

"What happens if you don't clear it?" asked Sasuke.

"Oh nothing much," Minato shared a smile with his wife before getting up. "Well..." He kissed his daughter's forehead as his wife collected the dirty plates, and went to hold the door open for her. "You just, get sent back to the academy for another year."

There was no sound from the four children.

"Good night kids!"

There was a dry choking sound in reply as Minato closed the door.

...

...

...

In the bedroom, the four children stared at the door. When it became clear that no one was going to run in and shout "Surprise! We were kidding!", Katana let out a choked laugh.

"He...he was... don't worry... he just..."

Sasuke clamped a hand on her mouth. "Bed." he stated firmly and crossed the room to the futon laid out for him.

"But..." Hinata shook her head, because there was no way they could go to sleep now.

"Bed." came the firm reply.

"SASU-"

Sasuke whirled around at the three girls and Sakura promptly shut up.

"..._**Bed."**_The three girls stared before nodding quickly.

"Bed," they agreed and promptly lay down in theirs.

As Katana reached over to turn off the lamp, a snide voice whispered in her ear.

_**so that's why you're so scared of him...**_

_****__...shut up. Stupid fox. _And the room was plunged in to darkness.

...

...

...

Minato grinned as the light under the crack disappeared. "What?" he whispered as Kushina shook her head at him in exasperation and turned to walk away. Chuckling, he caught up to her and kissed her head.

"Too much?" he asked, as he took some of the dishes from his wife.

"Well... they _did _give us the scare of a lifetime. So, no."

He grinned down at her. "We're horrible parents."

"The worst." she agreed, and reached up to kiss his cheek.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**I know this is super late. But I won't make any excuses, just a promise to write as soon as I can. **

**Speaking of which: any ideas for the team test? I feel like the bell test is a bit redundant right now... **

**SPOILERS: Yes, they will all graduate, but that doesn't mean they all get on the same team."**

**"Her team mates failed the test. The entire purpose behind the team test was lost on the two and yes, they failed. But she did not. It's highly unfair for her to be sent back to the Academy as well, Hokage Sama."**

**"Itachi, there is nothing ****_I _****can do. ...Unless you can come up with an alternative?"**

**Stay tuned!**


End file.
